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

[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!

[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

[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…. 😉😈

[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.

[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.

[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!!! 😈

[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.

[inverse-problem]

hiii you posted something about having read most of the like, recommended books with robots in them and i was just curious if you would be cool with listing some that youd rec? trying to read more books with robots in them and curious for ideas :]

sure! was gonna do a whole organized post but I may as well just get some down for now. not gonna be an exhaustive list (there's a bunch on my to-read list I don't want to rec before I read it myself), my summaries may be dubious, my taste may also be dubious, but here's a few I liked. I definitely recommend seeking stuff out outside of my list bc honestly it's quite limited now that I'm looking at it lol. be warned also that a lot of these deal with heavy themes of stuff including identity, bodily autonomy, etc. (idk which specific topics may be an issue so be sure to consult a trigger list if necessary). also I have yet to find anything with a robot romance that I find particularly compelling but ah well

the murderbot diaries series by martha wells: pretty much everyone's gonna recommend these to you, and for good reason imo, they're quite solid. main character is basically a security guard cyborg (humanoid but not human) who hacked its programming and is trying to figure out what it actually wants to do with itself now that it has free will. all it wants to do is watch tv shows in its head and avoid interacting with people, but life-or-death situations and its penchant for wanting to rescue people keep getting in its way

the imperial radch series by ann leckie: sentient spaceship ai that once had hundreds of human bodies all networked to a central ai, on a revenge quest. lots of themes of identity, lots of space geopolitics, a big horrendous empire that people are grappling with being complicit in, and an interesting take on a single-gendered society inspired by ursula leguin's the left hand of darkness (also a solid book, no robots there though). gets quite intense at times because of the sorts of horrors that evil empires get up to

17776 by jon bois: (note the link is to a website that turns into the story when you scroll through, watch out if flickering/eyestrain/etc is an issue) technically not a book but a multimedia webnovel of sorts (with short animations and videos, but mostly written as dialogue between characters). it's the year 17776, a lot of places are underwater, humanity has found itself immortal, and several space probes have gained sentience. now, the space probes busy themselves with watching and discussing what the humans are doing to entertain themselves, which mostly involves really absurd games of football. a bit absurdist and existential but very fun, even if you don't know much about football

the monk and robot series, by becky chambers: this one is very chill; a monk in a cozy post-industrial future setting doesn't know what they want from life so they go on adventure on impulse and meet a robot. robots have been out of contact with humanity for a long time, so both of them learn a lot from each other

the wayfarers series, also by becky chambers: haven't read all of them yet but the first book is a chill character-driven space road trip story with a friendly ship ai. lots of found family themes, and great if you like seeing a story where people are working together and are really in their element. the sequels tell other stories set in the same universe, most of which also feature robot characters, and there's interesting alien characters there too

activation degradation, by marina j lostetter: a robot gets activated on a space mining platform during an alien attack, and has to deal with a bunch of ensuing chaos and misinformation. I mostly found the plot twists interesting here, the characters themselves were so-so to me

obligatory asimov recommendations, caveat that his work is old and has historical biases etc, but also that's where you get the three laws of robotics so welp. I, robot is an interesting collection of short stories, mostly focusing on how the three laws of robotics actually can break down in various situations. there's also the robot trilogy which is basically a buddy cop detective story with a human from earth and a robot from space and they solve murders. lots of caveats with this rec (for one, I'm not big on cop shit to put it mildly) but asimov does do some interesting worldbuilding and society building with how the earth and space societies differ. there's the foundation series that follows from these books but I haven't read that haha

the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy series by douglas adams: only one prominent robot here who sporadically shows up, but also this series is just a fun time. the premise is that earth gets destroyed by aliens to make way for an unnecessary space highway, and one very tired human survives and bounces around the galaxy encountering all sorts of weird situations. lots of humourous satire, some a bit dated at this point but much still holds up. also douglas adams just has a way with words

individual short stories:

fandom for robots by vina jie-min prasad: a robot learns what fandom is! a very fun read imo

a guide for working breeds, also by vina jie-min prasad, whose writing I really like in general tbh: robots dealing with a contract job economy

68:hazard:cold by janelle c. shane: robot stranded on an ice planet. I really like the description of how a robot's view of the world and communication protocols might look

cat pictures please by naomi kritzer: an ai wants to be helpful to humanity but doesn't quite know how; a nice benevolent ai story

there were other short stories I also liked but I can't find where I put them now, welp. let me know if you read and enjoy any of these, though!

[rinhaler]

you’re seriously so talented as a struggling writer i wanted to ask how did you get to this level of writing + how do you characterize so well?

I'm always surprised to hear how much people like my writing or compliment me like this bc I genuinely think I'm really mid LMAO especially lately, I'm nowhere near as good as I'd hoped to be but that's the thing about writing and improving. You've just gotta keep writing! I've been writing on tumblr for like 3+ years I think? And my first stuff compared to what I write now is just so different, I think you can see the growth in my journey as a writer and that makes me happy!

I think reading other people's work helps a ton because you are reading a style you wouldn't have thought of and discovering words you've never heard before that you might want to use in your next fic and I just think you hold yourself to a higher standard when you see things and think "I love how they've done this I want to write like them" but you're never going to be able to replicate their work entirely because that would just be a form of plagiarism, so when you're thinking of these writers you admire in the back of your head your own writing voice gets interspersed with new things you're taking inspiration from!

As for characterising I think I always have a vibe in mind when I think of an idea for a fic and the type of character I want to write. And I've said this a ton before but music really helps me. And I've said this a few times too actually but my writing process definitely isn't for everyone but usually when I write one shots I'll have a song that perfectly encapsulates the vibe I'm trying to go for in my writing and only listen to that song when I'm writing until I'm done.

So for example I wrote a fic with plug!sukuna that a bunch of people enjoy and the whole time I was writing that I only listened to the song handshake by two door cinema club as I wrote it. I don't think the story would be what it is if I didn't listen to that song as I wrote, if I'd chosen another song I do believe the vibe would be different and sukuna's attitude and personality would be wholly different, too.

sorry for rambling aaaaa if there's anything specific you'd like to ask me about I'm always around and happy to help! take care bby <3

[letstalkwhump]

Let's Talk Whump

Welcome to Let’s Talk Whump, a series of interviews that spotlight the amazing people in our whump community! I’m Malice and I’ll be your host today. 

Today’s I’m talking whump with the amazing @lonesome–hunter!

(this blog and the recommended pieces contain NSFW and are 18+)

Welcome to Let’s Talk Whump! Would you mind sharing a little about yourself?

Howdy! My name is Sarah but everyone usually calls me Lonesome. I'm an elder here in the community lol. I love thrifting, smoking pot, birdwatching and Disney World (I live so close to it). My favorite colors alternate between black, various greens and burnt orange. I truly love all animals. There's no way I could pick just one. I am particularly fond of moths, owls, elephants and exotic birds. 

I'm a big stoner goth aunt and I love connecting with people. So feel free to come talk to me anytime!

What does whump mean to you? 

It's absolutely an outlet for me. When I was a kid I couldn't figure out why I liked seeing people tied up in people's basements in movies and on TV so much but it never left my mind. Those feelings are there, the excitement. When I started writing in fifth grade I realized I could produce those feelings by writing the stories myself.

And trauma dumping through fictional people is almost therapy lol.

And how did you find the whump community? What made you want to join? 

During the first season of Supernatural I got on live journal and found other SPN communities. Then I fell down a rabbit hole that led me to whump. I finally had a word and a whole bunch of people who felt the same way which felt validating after being told I'm weird from teachers and family members.

During the pandemic I reconnected with it when I was in a dark place and really got into what everyone was doing. I thought "maybe I can do this". The rest is history.

Do you think your view on whump changed since you joined in terms of trope enjoyment or consumption style?

My view on whump has always been the same really. No one is hurting anyone and with proper warnings we can write the darker stuff some of us really enjoy.

I can't really say there are any I changed my mind over. Any trope can be good if it sucks you in with the writing. 

And your favourite whump tropes because it’s guaranteed there’ll be more than one!

 Ooh wee here we goooo lol. I dig dehumanization, whipping, sadistic whumpers, noncon, water torture, stress positions, begging. So many.

Time to share your awesome writing. Do you have a favourite piece you've written? 

So my first main series “The Devil’s Highway” has been my baby for three plus years and I’m excited to rework it now that I have more tools at my disposal. That being said, I really am proud of what I did with “Bury Me Beneath The Weeping Willow Tree”. It features some heavy TWs so be mindful of that but that almost stopped me from wanting to do it. Would showing Big Boy and Darlin’s graphic murder be too far? Probably lol. But I really dug deep in and got emotional writing it honestly. And it shows Ezra that this weird love Josiah has for me won’t protect him like he thinks it will. It didn’t work for Big Boy. Those two guys are secretly my favorite and I’m most excited about reworking that particular story.

Your imagery is deliciously brutal and creepy. I’m obsessed with it, it’s that good! Do you have a writing routine or is it more when inspiration strikes?

Definitely a night owl. I can’t focus until it’s dark out. Gotta have water and a little sweet drink to keep me focused. I tend to write when something strikes, lately it’s been extremely dry for me creatively but I’m trying to stretch my legs again and get back into it.

And do you find that it’s easier to write some things over others?

I can write the hell out of dreams, surrealism and atmosphere. That’s always been my favorite thing to do writing wise. Also death fics are fun lol.

Dialogue is my least favorite and it probably shows but can’t get better without practice.

Is there anything you're working on at the moment?

Been working on the rework of The Devil’s Highway, started a fun little prompt series about a bunch of masked men and I have another forced to fight series with slow burn romance than I’ve ever done before.

Do you have a joke or pun you would like to share to spread some smiles today?

I wish I could remember the dad joke my customer told me last night that sent me into a coughing fit but I have another one for you.

"What do you call a factory that makes okay products?" "A satisfactory."

That got a laugh out of me! Is there any writing advice you’d like to share?

Just have fun. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself and just write for yourself.

And tag your stuff!

Shout out to your favourite writing/whump blogs, bffs or people who've inspired you. We're hyping everyone one up here!!!

Oh man there's so many I could be here all day but these folks have truly helped me so much over the years and I would die for them lol

@knivestothroats, @galaxywhump, @girlsjustwannadrawwhump, @evermetnotforgotten, @redstainedsocks, @coldresolve, @whumpshaped, @whumpfigure, @ephemeral-phosphorescence, @whump-me-all-night-long, 

Anything you'd like to add?

Save Florida from Facists!

So good to have you here today, @lonesome--hunter! 

And to all you folks at home, have a whump-derful day!

[shooks-stupid-stuff]

it's time to be annoying about masumii and takoshi again :]]]]]]]]

only this time, it's au versions (the base concept is what if they swapped places, but in like a masumii was born to takoshi's parents and takoshi was born to masumii's parents so they had the other's lives and genetics and yada yada you get the point way-)

so here, shitty pen doodles (which are inaccurate actually bc i decided to make masumii's turtleneck sleeveless like she usually has)

more art (from aggies)/inane ramblings under the cut, bc there is A Good Amount and i don't want this post to take up too much space xjdhdjdk-

ok so takoshi first (ft a knife pika drew hurtling towards him which inspired the 2nd doodle fjcnck) and like. this is just takoshi if he had enough time to cope with his trauma and stop relying on his masking tendencies constantly, and therefore he is just A Little Guy. A Little Goober, if you will. silly and goofy and kinda pathetic but very well meaning and kind. i like him :]

...he is still very depressed though don't be fooled, the trauma is Not As Bad Anymore but it still affects him deeply.

and now masumii (ft. a bunch of Little Guys drawn by pika) (i didn't feel like drawing her suit jacket also) who is Significantly More Depressed. unlike takoshi she doesn't even try to pretend she has any light left in her eyes, girl is dead inside and dead serious about everything. also unlike takoshi, she's incredibly competent at running a business, you love to see a girlboss win

the interesting part about this au is that, since takoshi and masumii have what i have begun to refer to in my head as "genderlocked trauma", by switching places they kinda avoid the worst of it (and while i definitely could have just changed stuff slightly to make it still work like in the boy masumii/girl takoshi au that i ALSO have solely bc they would have a very comedic height difference, that kinda feels like it would be cheating in this au and also is boring bc i've already done it-)

emphasis on kinda.

because that doesn't mean they can't have DIFFERENT trauma-

overall though, in broad strokes bc i don't wanna get into the trigger-warning hell that is their backstories, takoshi still has his masking tendencies and struggles with doing things that aren't in line with other's perception of him, even if it's not what he wants to do or how he wants to act (this is where the whole flirty fuckboy act comes from) and masumii still has her general disdain for, well. flirty fuckboys, as well as her general abrasiveness towards people she has a bad impression of (and people in general, though normally she does conceal that one (albeit normal masumii does a better job of this)) and she is still incredibly sensitive about people touching or even seeing her neck, which do still have horrible scars(?) on it in this iteration (i'm not 100% sure scars are the right term but idk what is so)

the most interesting part to me though is how this au changes the way their deep rooted self hatred manifests. for takoshi, he really does hate himself, but he knows that all he does by punishing himself is hurt the people who he cares about, and who care about him in turn. and so even though that is something that just makes him more miserable, which he feels he deserves, he's the kind of person who is willing to do ANYTHING to ensure his loved ones are happy, so... he tries to treat himself kindly, and to let himself be happy even if he feels he doesn't deserve it, for their sake. this contrasts regular takoshi, who has absolutely no one to lean on for support, and has a self hatred so deep that he's on the brink of quite literally losing himself since he is pretending to be someone he isn't literally anytime he's around another person. which is like 95% of the time since he almost always has a girlfriend. he doesn't think he deserves anything, and that since people don't want the real him from him, he should just disappear. it's bleak, he's in a really bad place .

masumii, on the other hand, also really hates herself, but she actively takes it out on herself because she thinks she's a good for nothing disgusting hypocrite who deserves everything she gets. she hardly lets others get close enough to help, both because she feels she doesn't deserve it and also because she's incredibly wary about opening up or being vulnerable. and when she does start to enjoy being around someone, she does all she can to deny and suppress those feelings, because in her mind she doesn't deserve to be happy, and no one would want to be near her if they knew the truth (this is something that takoshi also feels, though to a lesser degree than masumii). this is actually pretty similar to regular masumii, with the main difference being WHAT trauma has brought on those specific feelings and responses. regular masumii has also had a lot more time to process said trauma, but (unlike this au's takoshi) has been unable to raise her opinion of herself at all, simply getting better at hiding it rather than actually healing and slowly starting to get over it (that said, regular masumii is at the very least a bit better about her self hatred than this au's masumii; it's still there and strong, but she can force it down and ignore it atleast partially if need be).

yeah i just. i love these guys so much, they're both such horribly broken people but they're able to find love and joy in each other and help each other heal and man that's just so fucking beautiful. it's not like things get better immediately, it still takes time (hell, corporate hell masumii and takoshi who have been together like 60+ years are STILL struggling with their trauma, and they're comedic relief characters-) but they're able to help each other make it through each day, one at a time, and learning to love themselves in the process.

i fucking love these two terrible straight people, thank you for coming to my ted talk

[marimbles]

im not in any of the current fandoms ur into (im no longer as into ml as i used to be, but i like seeing ur tags and u have such a sunny personality so i still follow you) AND OMG UR ART HAS IMPROVED SO MUCH???

i remember you would replicate the ml style but now youve developed ur own style and youve got such a good understanding on lighting and colours, and ur lines are so smooth and just ajdkkdksksk anyways im proud of how far youve come w ur art !!

HELLO?? I’m gonna break down crying this is so nice 😭😭💜💜💜💜 thank you so so much! !

First of all I’m flattered you liked my stuff at all haha let alone that you have stuck around despite not being in the same fandoms anymore 🥺 next of all!! What a kind thing to say!! It means a whole whole lot. I think on my end it’s harder to see improvement, so it’s really encouraging to hear that other people can see it. Like intellectually I know I am always improving, but drawing is still hard and I’m always in the weeds of my own work and don’t really get to step back and see a wider view unless I look at some of my old art and I’m like oh hey! I actually did get better bc this looks worse to me now 😂

yeah I was definitely trying to replicate the ml show style in the beginning! I decided to learn how to draw specifically so I could draw miraculous ladybug fanart HDJDJS and at first that’s all I really knew how to do. When I got into toh I didn’t replicate that style but I did incorporate some elements from it. I think I did the same a little bit w atla, and I’m doing it now w the botw/totk art style too. and I’m sure as I love more things and keep drawing it will keep developing! I am also hugely inspired by other artists and I sometimes try to incorporate the things I admire into my own work. I feel like my art style is just a culmination of all the things I have loved so much I had to create about it. just a big playdough ball with a bunch of colors rolled in, haha

Also you’ve discovered my weakness…i have an Addiction….to THE GLOW. moth behavior. I wouldn’t say I have a great understanding of lighting and colors but I sure do love when they’re happening. So I just try to make them happen and I’m like ohohoho what if it were sunset. get this: rim lighting. perhaps (definitelyhaps) a lens flare. God was so right when He said “Let there be light.”

man sorry I always ramble sm this was just so nice and I got excited haha. “I’m proud of you”…trigger words fr!! This made my day, thank u 💜💜💜