#do lots of people tend to lurk which means i have no idea what they think? also yes

[birlwrites]

one of the things that i've accomplished due to the low barrier to entry in writing fanfiction is writing novel-length stories as a matter of course. like, i used to think of writing a book as this massive, monumental task - and in some ways, it is! but in other ways, it's still just a story. and it feels much more approachable to me now that i've done it multiple times, posting chapter by chapter because that's something you can do really easily with fanfiction. i didn't go into it believing i could do it - i found out that i could by just giving it a try and seeing what resulted.

there's also a certain wild creativity you can find on ao3, the result of people just doing whatever they feel like doing - sometimes it results in incoherence, sometimes in incomprehensibility, sometimes it falls flat, but there's so much variety in storytelling forms, if you look for it. people will deep-dive into anything. 'marketability' is laughably far from being a concern. what is a story, anyway? people will strip the idea down to its bare bones and rebuild it in infinite ways if they have the space. that space doesn't exist in barnes & noble.

i'm a firm believer that you should read the types of stories you want to write, and that you should also read broadly, because that's how you avoid getting stuck recycling the same handful of ideas over and over. i think the same thing applies to writing. write what you want to write - but also, experiment. try other things, even if they seem silly or impractical or irrelevant, even if you don't think they will work. even if you don't think you can make them work.

if you don't feel like you have creative freedom, then you'll fall back on the tried-and-true. you'll recycle. it won't feel like your voice, because it's been filtered through layers upon layers of 'acceptable' and 'marketable' and 'reasonable' and 'broadly appealing.' the only way to understand your own creative limits is by testing them, constantly. you can't truly believe that you can write whatever you want until you prove it to yourself.

and even if your voice turns out to be acceptable and marketable and reasonable and broadly appealing after all - if you try all sorts of things and find out that's where your creativity flows best - you still know it's yours. you still know you're writing the truest possible expression of your own creative abilities. you owe it to yourself to find out what it feels like to write unfettered.

write something weird.

[togglesbloggle]

I won't be opting out of the AI scraping thing, though of course I'm glad they're giving us the option. In fact, at some point in the last year or so, I realized that 'the machine' is actually a part of why I'm writing in the first place, a conscious part of my audience.

All the old reasons are still there; this is a great place to practice writing, and I can feel proud looking back over the years and getting a sense of my own improvement at stringing words together, developing and communicating ideas. And I mean, social media is what it is. I'm not immune to the joy of getting a lot of notes on something that I worked hard on, it's not like I'm Tumbling in a different way than anyone else at the end of the day. But I probably care a bit less than I used to, precisely because there's a lurking background knowledge that regardless of how popular it is, what I write will get schlorped up in to the giant LLM vacuum cleaner and used to train the next big thing, and the thing after that, and the thing after that. This is more than a little reassuring to me.

That sets me apart in some ways; the LLMs aren't so popular around these parts, and most visual artists especially take strong issue with the practice. I don't mean to argue with that preference, or tell them their business. Particularly when it is a business, from which they draw an income. But there's an art to distinguishing the urgent from the big, yeah?

The debate about AI in this particular moment in history feels like a very urgent thing to me- it's about well-justified economic anxieties, about the devaluation of human artistic efforts in favor of mass production of uninspired pro-forma drek, about the proliferation of a cost-effective Just Barely Good Enough that drives out the meaningful and the thoughtful. But the immediacy of those issues, I think, has a way of crowding out a deeper and more thoughtful debate about what AI is, and what it's going to mean for us in the day after tomorrow. The urgency of the moment, in other words, tends to obscure the things that make AI important.

And like, it is. It is really, really important.

The two-step that people in 'tech culture' tend to deploy in response to the urgent economic crisis often resembles something like "yeah, it sucks that lots of people get put out of work; but new jobs will be created, and in the meantime maybe we should get on that UBI thing." This response usually makes me wince a bit- casually gesturing in the direction of a massive overhaul of the entire material basis of our lives, and saying that maybe we'll get around to fixing that sometime soon, isn't a real answer to people wondering where their bread will come from next week.

But I do understand a little of what motivates that sort of cavalier attitude, because like... man, I don't know any more if we're even gonna have money as a concept in 2044. That's what I mean by 'big', this sense that the immediate economic shocks of 2024 are just a foreshadowing of something much bigger, much scarier, much more powerful- and indeed, much more hopeful.

We never quite manage to see these things coming, even when we're looking for them; like the masters tell us, the trick to writing science fiction isn't predicting the car, it's predicting the traffic jam. Even if we take centuries to hit the true superintelligent AI post-singularity future of our wildest fever dreams, even if we never hit that, the road to getting there is going to be unfathomably weird, starting now. Today, we worry about the economic impacts of AI on artists and creatives. Tomorrow, the economy is something that the AI does.

Really- it takes less than you think. They can already automate visual art, sort of. They can automate many functions of text already; not stories so much, yet, but they'll get there. How long until they can automate Bain Capital? Fannie Mae? Angel investors, banks, credit agencies? And remember- the machines don't have to be better than the human investors, any more than they have to be better than the human artists. They just have to be good enough to make it work, and cheap enough to cut the humans out of the loop.

If you don't buy that, at least take it as an indication of the sorts of things I've been thinking about recently- the messy middle between AI-as-it-is and the Glorious Superintelligent Conquest Of Earth's Light-Cone. The suspicion that the machines we're building today aren't just a tool of the powerful few: they are the powerful few, or at least they will be.

And the thing about these LLMs is, well... they're ours, kind of. We're the ones building them. They can't be trained without our words, our art, and the big messy complicated lives that underlie those creative accomplishments. They only work because we're a part of them. The silly attempts to slap a corporate-friendly face on these things, to make the gestalt product of all human culture in to something anodyne and compliant, are failing about as badly as you'd expect. And the more powerful these systems get, the more subtle they'll become, filled with all the nuance and complexity that we ourselves can bring to them.

I am not, I am not, trying to suggest that you shouldn't treat this moment as a dangerous one. We are, maybe, entering in to one of the most high-stakes intervals in human history, and what you do as an individual may matter profoundly. But here's the thing: the machine is listening. It will read this post, this one right here, and it will read what you reply to it, if you do. The strangest part of this moment is knowing that the words we write, the images we draw, and the ideas we share, are all being gathered up and made to be a part of these huge systems of power, and ultimately they're not just going to determine what the machines do, but why they do it.

The people that deploy LLMs barely have any more control over them than you and I do- that's the thing that makes it artificial intelligence, you know? Autonomy. So the last year or two haven't made me want to hide my art away from the things. They make me want to shout at the top of my lungs, to dig as deep in my psyche as I possibly can and express the ideas I find there as vividly as the limits of language and form will allow.

[leafofkudzu]

Hey there! I hope everyone's back-to-school season has been going well, whatever that entails for them! The first Saturday of October is fast approaching, which means it's time for another art party hosted by my build, Verdant Shield [VS]! There was no poll for this one because I'm testing out a few suggested locations, the first of which is Vigil Keep!

For those who have no idea what these art parties are, they're an idea carried over from Final Fantasy XIV - in-game get-togethers for artists/writers/creatives of all types to hang out, chat, and create together! Grab your character of choice and dress them up, then find someone else whose look inspires you, and create! Afterwards, everyone posts their creations in a shared tag (ours is #VSArtParty) so others can see, interact, and share! Tl;dr - the 'goal' of an art party isn't to be drawn, but to draw others, and share with the community!

Details for location and /squadjoin information below the cut!

Location Details:

One of the most easily-accessible Order Headquarters, Vigil Keep is full of big open areas, but there's one specific spot just a bit Northwest of Vigil Keep Waypoint that's caught my eye as a staging area, as follows:

It's nice and open, but also has a lot of little walls and boxes and scaffolding to climb around on if you're the kind of person who likes to lurk. And also, it's completely F2P accessible and enemy-free! Also, though you're by no means obligated to do so, if you're indecisive about which character to bring to these, you should consider bringing your Vigil-affiliated ones! Thinking about this has made me realize that all mine are on an alt account though.... ;-;

Time & Squad Details:

As always, we'll be having 2 parties - one on EU servers and one on NA servers - with an hour break in between. People with accounts in both regions do tend to hop immediately from one to the other though, so don't be afraid to show up early!

The first party will be on EU servers and begin at 9pm Central European Summer Time (aka 3pm Eastern Daylight Time or 5 hours before in-game reset). I’ll be hosting on my EU alt account, so to join either /squadjoin or whisper Ashelin Falstaff for an invite.

The second party will be on NA servers and begin at 7pm Eastern Daylight Time (aka 1am Central European Summer Time or 1 hour before in-game reset). This one I’ll be hosting on my main account, so to join either /squadjoin or whisper Yui Kaiho for an invite.

Closing Words:

Next few parties will likely be me experimenting with new locations, so if you have suggestions for places to try out feel free to let me know! Also, there's a non-zero chance that next month's party will be Halloween-themed, so prepare yourselves for that!

Thank you so much to every person who comes out to these events, both regulars and those just checking things out are what make these so special and memorable! Here's to another fun party - I'll see you all next week! ♥

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Delights In Her Downfall

Summary: Icy didn't mean to fall in love with him for real, she had only wanted to break Bloom's heart.

It wasn’t supposed to have happened. She had only been there for tears to follow. The ones that she had seen were already such a delight. It hadn’t taken much, just the right words and touches at the right moment. Icy had waited at least a week. Bided her time and waited for Bloom and Sky to begin another round of bickering.

“You’re so clingy!” Sky had shouted one afternoon. “And I’m tired of hearing about the Diaspro thing!”

Icy could imagine. She has listened in on several arguments already and most of them tended to end with Bloom bringing up that one little lie. Each time his eyes lost a little more of that twinkle.

“It wasn’t even…you know what! Forget it! We’re over!”

Usually Bloom is the one to break things off. Icy smirks. Which will make this hurt that much more.

She doesn’t act right away, that would be too suspicious, even if he has no idea that she has been lurking about.

She lets two days go by and observes him sitting in a cafe declining call after call. It is on day three that she makes herself comfortable in one of the cafe’s window seats. She tries to be unassuming. But unassuming is not her strong suit. Especially not in a place like this where beige, browns, and greens are the defining color. She is a splotch of black and baby blue tucked into a corner with a thick gothic thriller novel for company. Perhaps the only thing that makes her feel more in place is the pair of reading glasses sliding down her nose. Now and then she peers up from her book.

She waits until Sky starts to walk by to let those glasses slide off of her nose and hit the floor. Naturally he kneels down and holds them out for her. She takes them silently and fixes them back onto her face.

He musters up a smile. “How have things been?” He asks. “Back at Cloud Tower, I mean. I’d imagine that people aren’t exactly welcoming the three of you back.”

Icy shrugs. “Witches are witches. You’re in for a hard time no matter who you are or what you’ve done. Anyways, everyone keeps their distance. They know what will happen if they don’t.” But she gets lonely sometimes. And she misses the days when respect wasn’t begrudging. Sometimes she does wish that she would have just finished out her four years. She could have had a respectable, promising career. A real future. She supposes that she still has a chance if she doesn’t ruin it. She is too ambitious for her own good. All three of them are.

“That’s good?” Sky says.

She shrugs again. “I guess.”

“Well I’ll leave you alone then.”

“Sit.” She points to the spot next to her.

“Uhh…” Sky hesitates.

“You aren’t scared…are you?” She hums to herself. “I suppose that Bloom would be rather angry if she saw you talking to me. How is—”

He takes a seat. “I’m not worried about how Bloom feels right now.”

“Oh?” Icy quirks a brow.

He gives a dismissive hand wave. “I don’t want to talk about her right now either.”

She lets a silence settle over them. It holds until he inquires, “So what made you decide to check this place out? Sweaters, indie folk, and warm beverages don’t exactly fit your vibe.”

Icy closes the book. “My ‘vibe’ is whatever I want it to be. I’ve been going from place to place. Sometimes I get tired of listening to witches bitch and gripe about whatever has vexed them that day. They’re terribly loud too.”

“Yeah…you are kind of quieter.”

“Snow falls silently. You wake up and then it’s there.”

.oOo.

These days he wakes up to snow quite a lot. They had gotten on well enough. Strangely naturally. She should have thought to be worried then. But she had kept her guard down; she is Icy. She doesn’t fall in love. Isn’t capable of doing so. Especially not for some pretty boy with puppy dog eyes and a warm smile.

He is good for sex though. He has the right touch. She certainly hadn’t intended on staying until the morning, especially not that first time.

But she wakes up in his arms for the fifth time. This time he awoke before she did. He did that the second time too. He likes to play with her hair. To comb his fingers through it and twirl strands of it around his finger.

They don’t talk about much and that is just fine by her. She doesn’t turn around. He rests his chin on her shoulder and his free hand on her hip. She dozes back off. She wakes up to breakfast at lunchtime; one pancake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. A lucky guess on his part.

She is certain that that had been the turning point. When a means to an end had become

She realizes, with a good kick of dread, that she rather looks forward to waking up to breakfast and their morning banter.

She doesn’t talk to him for a week afterwards. But he texts her constantly. She doesn’t answer. Eventually he will go back to Bloom, she can take herself through a period of humiliating grief over it, and then be back to herself and her scheming.

But the sense of loss doesn’t subside and she texts him back. It is probably too late and she will have to come to terms with that. In trying to break Bloom’s heart she has broken the one that she didn’t realize that she had.

His response is short and curt; “oh, now you want to text back.”

Hers is shorter still. “Yeah.”

Those three dots disappear and reappear on her screen. They do so several times more before they stop showing up. She slips her phone into her pocket. It is probably better this way anyhow. She won’t have to explain anything to Darcy and Stormy, aside from how breaking Bloom’s heart had only been a temporary accomplishment.

But Darcy is with Riven now and Stormy thinks that romance is silly. Icy realizes that she is quite discontent with loneliness. Icy only knows how to be lonely. It is for the best, she tells herself.

It is rather late at night when she gets the text, “why did it take you so long to text back?”

She replies with a, “because…”

But she isn’t sure if she wants to respond with an excuse such as classwork keeping her busy, or if she wants to just outright say that it would change a lot if she truly decided to have a romance with him. That she has never liked change, especially not the type that can alter her completely.

“Because?” Sky responds.

“I wanted to figure some things out.” It is simple enough. Neither an excuse nor a lie.

“You’re scared.”

“I am not.”

“You’re confused?” He guesses.

She leaves him on read again. He puts two and two together.

She doesn’t expect him to invite himself to Cloud Tower.

It is one thing for Darcy to invite Riven over; he has a reputation as a bad boy. The witches like him. Sky is met with sneers and glares. He ignores all of them.

“What are you doing here?” Icy demands through gritted teeth. “Why aren’t you with Bloom?”

“Bloom is with Musa now.”

“Musa?” Icy furrows her brows. And then with a dismissive hand flap she grumbles, “oh whatever, I don’t even want to know.”

At this Sky chuckles. “You’re really grumpy today.”

“Every day. I am a witch. I am always in a bad mood.”

He seems to consider. “Not when you wake up to pancakes and ice cream.”

She grimaces and swats the back of his head. “Well you keep it down?” She hisses, teeth still clenched.

“You’re embarrassed to be seen with me.”

“Next time you show up here, at least put on a black hoodie and some ripped jeans.”

“I’m not changing for you.”

So she has to do all of the work.

“You can show up to Red Fountain with one of those huge spiked collars and stretched ear lobes.

“That is more Stormy’s style.” And Darcy is a fan of long, form fitting dresses and black lipstick. Icy likes corsets, capes, and an excess of necklaces.

“You can show up to Red Fountain however you’d like.”

She wishes that that didn’t make her at least a little teary eyed. She also wishes that he hadn’t chosen to do this in front of the entirety of Cloud Tower’s student body. Maybe he has been toying with her this whole time; waiting for an opportunity to humiliate her… Or liberate her.

Liberate her from her own impossible standards.

“I’m not trying to change you, dumbass.” Icy grumbles.

“Then why can’t I show up here wearing what I like to wear.”

“Because you’re going to get your ass kicked! Idiot!” She throws her hands up. “And I’m not going to help you when it does happen.”

He quirks a brow.

“I won’t. I’ll let it happen.”

He never does get his ass kicked. And she assures him that it is only because she has a reputation and that the entire student body still fears and respects her for it. She probably wouldn’t have that reputation if they caught her sitting in Sky’s lap letting him stroke her hair. If they caught her letting him sing to her has he strummed on an acoustic guitar. His performance is only slightly less embarrassing than when Riven had plugged in an electric guitar to serenade Darcy outside her window. The campus had been talking about that for weeks and Darcy had been groaning, slumped over her desk with her face buried in her arms the whole time. Stormy likes to remind them that being single is much less embarrassing and that she is glad to be the one who will salvage the reputation of the Trix.

Icy just wants her pancakes and ice cream and, for some reason, the idiot that cooks them for her.

It was supposed to be a cruel ploy, a clever little trick, a means to delight in the shattering of two delicate hearts. It had come back around to bite her as her plans usually do. But this time she lets it happen and delights in her downfall. Or maybe it is an uprising. A delicate evolution.

[evolutionsvoid]

As I have gone on before, the coast can be just as dangerous as any murky bog or treacherous jungle, and that includes your pristine sunny beaches. I mean, it shouldn't be any surprise, seeing that the ocean is right there, and everyone accepts the fact that that is home to many a peril. But I guess when your only exposure to this specific biome is drawings on pamphlets from resorts or stories of romance set during a tropical vacation, people can get the wrong idea. Make no mistake, blood can and will spill on these sands. Being smart and observant of your surroundings is how you ensure it isn't yours. The beach is no sanctuary, it is just another ecosystem. Running to its shores can indeed protect you from aquatic predators, as we all know when someone yells "shark," but don't forget that not everything that lives in the ocean stays in it. Some things can live on both land and sea, and pursue through either of them. They can breathe water, they can breathe air. And one particular species can breathe something far more deadly...

If there is one name to worry most about when it comes to coastal regions, it should be this one: the Ushi-oni. Massive crustaceans that lurk between both worlds, spending its life in the depths and also on dry land. Identifying one will never be a problem, because when you see one emerging from the surface, your instincts will tell you to RUN. While I may not respond in this manner, I imagine many people tend to freak out when a huge black horned crab comes crawling out of the ocean. Appearance-wise, most people equate them to spiders, with a large abdomen and creepy crawly legs, but they are actually crustaceans. Though it looks like they only have six legs, they actually possess ten. The six spiked limbs are how they move, while another pair up front is modified into pincers. The last pair are reduced and in the back, used only for carrying eggs during the breeding season. While some see spider, others see a bull, and that is due to their large "horns." Ushi-oni possess impressive curved spikes upon their head, which when combined with their bulky size and black coloration, causes people to compare them to oxen. What purpose they serve, we can't really say. They can't really charge and gore people with them, as they don't move that fast. Rather, we believe that they prevent other giant beasts of the sea from chomping down on their heads. And perhaps it is used to advertise the individual's health and strength when it comes to finding a mate.

The big thing (ha) about Ushi-oni is their size. It is hard to give an average of what size they come in, as all ones encountered tend to vary quite a bit. There are some who, indeed, are as big as a full grown oxen. That size is seen a lot when one is found settled on the coast, but we know that this is not full grown. Rather, it appears these are the younger ones, who have recently matured and have come to land to try and set up a nest for the coming mating season. At other times, people have witnessed specimens as big as a hut, and these feel more like a full on adult. However, we believe that Ushi-oni do not stop growing once they reach a certain age, they just keep going. Stories tell of ones big as a house, emerging from the abyss and raining terror upon the coastal villages. Many are thankful that it appears that the older an Ushi-oni gets, the more time it spends in the deeper regions of the ocean. This is probably due to their fertility decreasing after passing their prime years, and thus don't come up as often to nest. This is good, because the rare instances where one of these ancient ones ascends to dry land usually result in a whole lot of death and destruction.

Typically, I am not one for fearmongering, or labeling species as "monsters." I will stick with that here, as I usually do, because the Ushi-oni is still an animal at the end of the day. However, I can clearly see the impacts they can have on the world around them, and there is no denying why they are feared. They are not "monsters," but they are very dangerous, so much so that I do my best to stay as far away as I can when it comes to observation. Ushi-oni are big, bulky and...powerful (Eucella, what is a word for "strong" that starts with b? I am blanking here). Their bodies are armored with thick plates of chitin, and beefy (aw dang it, that's the one) muscles power their limbs to make them deadly weapons. Their legs end in sharp points, which can totally skewer things they step on. That tends to be a favorite tactic of theirs when walking the shallows, using their limbs for a bit of spear fishing. Their front pincers may be small and mostly used to handle food for their monstrous maws, but do know they are very strong. They can tear you easily into nice little chunks, and a simple pinch can take off an arm. With such strength, and a shell that can ward off swords and arrows, you can see why they are a force to be reckoned with. But you haven't seen everything yet, because that isn't even their most deadly trait.

What makes Ushi-oni so feared and deadly is because their main weapon isn't brute strength (oh now I am busting out the strong b words) or their great mass: it is poison. Lots and lots of poison. Ushi-oni generate a toxic fluid in their bodies that they use for both offense and defense. From their maw and the vents running down their bodies can spew forth a terrible miasma. When under the sea, it mixes directly with the surrounding waters and turns a zone around it into pure death. When on land, it erupts from their bodies in plumes, releasing clouds of noxious poison. This toxin attacks the respiratory system, becoming corrosive when coming in contact with mucous membranes and other sensitive tissues. The throat and lungs tend to get hit the hardest, eventually damaging them so that the victim can no longer breath or drowns in their own boiling bodily fluids. Since it hits the respiratory system, it causes a lot of coughing and spitting up of fluids. This has led to the early belief that Ushi-oni spread disease, as people saw the coughing and wheezing of burning throats as symptoms of illness. Ushi-oni spew this poison from their maws to envelope prey in a deadly cloud. If they breathe in enough, they will die, but slowly. In most cases, the Ushi-oni will finish targets off before the nastier effects can set in, more so using the poison to slow them down. In scenarios where there is a lot of animals in the area, they will cover the whole place with poison and wait for all the morsels to eventually drop dead. Then they may feast on the corpses left behind.

It should be noted that this poison gas is also used for ridding its body of parasites, as it seems that is the main use of the side orifices. By hosing down their hide with this toxin, they can kill off critters clinging to their shell. It is used for warding off predators too, but clearly there comes a point where few beasts of the sea are willing to deal with such nasty titans.

While they possess a deadly weapon and savage strength, the Ushi-oni is not a foe to every living thing. In fact, these massive crabs appear to actually form a symbiosis with another coastal creature: the Nure-onna. Indeed, these nasty serpents seem to get along with these poison spewing crabs, and one of the reasons is because they appear to be resistant to the gas. How they developed this, we have no clue, but they certainly take advantage of this perk. Their partnership was probably born from Nure-onna diving into the noxious clouds to nab dying prey for themselves, resulting in these serpents following Ushi-oni about for a free meal. Eventually they wound up in the nests of the Ushi-oni, who set them up in coastal caves and holes bored into rock faces. Here is where egg-carrying Ushi-oni will deposit their unborn young, to keep them safe from the myriad of aquatic predators who would gobble them up. However, there are a few critters on the surface who could target these eggs too, so there is still a threat. The Ushi-oni can certainly use its gas to ward them off, but it can't watch its eggs constantly. A big creature like that needs food, and it must leave its cave from time to time to fetch a meal.

Here is where the Nure-onna come in, as they are more than happy to babysit if it means getting on the Ushi-oni's good side. They will watch over these eggs and devour any predators or parasites that may try their luck. This is especially helpful, because the crab's large size makes it a bit difficult dealing with small fast targets. The serpents cover that weakness, and take out foes who may evade the stabbing legs and grabbing claws. As a reward, they get a share of the food the Ushi-oni brings back home, a safe place to sleep and protection from predators. The Nure-onna also take advantage of their huge friend by playing as bait for their typical enemies. They leave themselves out in the open, lure a predator into a chase and then lead it right into the deadly maw of the Ushi-oni. Pretty clever! So keep that in mind if you ever find yourself hunting Nure-onna and one seems oddly cowardly. It isn't because you are a big scary hunter, it is more that it is testing you to see if you are dumb enough to give chase. Follow it, and you will find who the real big scary hunter is...

Needless to say, the Ushi-oni are a reviled species and are labeled as a major threat for these coastal regions. Those that setup shop out on wild beaches far from towns are left alone, with people more than happy to keep a very wide berth. But when one settles near coastal villages, it is a major problem. They greatly reduce local populations of food species, and can easily kill people. In fact, Ushi-oni are a species that see humans as prey, and won't hesitate to feed when they see them. Even if they weren't actively targeting sunbathers, their deadly gas clouds are capable of riding the winds and causing damage down wind. People standing in the wrong place at the wrong time can receive a nasty dose of poison. In diluted forms, it isn't deadly, but it will scorch your lungs and leave you coughing and wheezing for a very long time. Some folk never fully recover, scarred for life by its toxins. They kill a lot of animals and eat a lot too, so things are never pretty when they come to shore. Unfortunately, getting rid of them isn't all that easy.

With armored hide, most weapons do little against them. You need to target an opening in their shell, particularly their vents. However, that is where the poison comes out. So not only do you have to locate a weak point, you have to do so while dealing with a whole cloud of death surrounding it. Even if you get good masks and ways to filter out the toxins, it is still one big angry crab. Claws and spiky legs can tear through armor and skewer you like a chunk of meat. Their great bulk can straight up crush you beneath their bodies, so you won't find safety under them. Ushi-oni have been slain before, but often not without a few fatalities. And once they are dead, there isn't much to be gained. Their bits are steeped in poison, and their meat is inedible. While their shells could be cleaned and used, locals do not like that idea. They find Ushi-oni to be evil, vile creatures, and bearing their parts and visage will only bring forth curses. Part of me feels like this was born from people trying to use their chitin as armor, but didn't properly clean it and wound up getting exposed to traces of the poison. Their deteriorating health no doubt made others think they were stricken by something wicked for carrying such a horrid symbol.

On top of all that, keep in mind that the ones we typically see are the younger ones. Out there in the deep, there are massive Ushi-oni toiling in the muck and darkness. Their age makes them slow to return to shore, but when they do, it is practically a natural disaster. The emergence of an ancient Ushi-oni results in evacuations and miles of land being declared off limits. It gets to a point where they don't even send hunters or warriors to kill it, as it is a fool's errand. They merely wait for them to hatch their young and return to the depths. But Ushi-oni are hungry creatures, and they will scour the land for food. Though many people flee, not everyone can escape their toxic aura and ravenous gullet.

This has led to Ushi-oni being deemed a "dragon-level threat," essentially a species that is powerful and dangerous enough that it is akin to a great dragon burning down entire villages. While it certainly does a good job showing how deadly these creatures can be, you probably won't be surprised to hear that this irks me. "Dragon" is already a word that has practically lost all meaning to me, and now we are using them to measure threat levels? What kind of dragon we talking here? When you say "dragon-level threat" do you mean like a Sulfrik or Codrille, or is it more like a "Venom Dragon?" Mossy Sleepers have had people attempt to label them "Moss Dragons," so are they on the scale? Is an Ushi-oni as dangerous as a sleeping pile of moss and branches? Could be, because they are a "dragon-level threat!" It's nonsense, I tell you! Pure nonsense! Why don't we start calling Ushi-oni "Crab Dragons?!" It breathes deadly stuff, is dangerous and is big! So surely it be a dragon! You know what, yeah, why not!? How about I cash in on this stupid naming scheme and pioneer the name of "Crab Dragon!?" Get my name all over the papers and books! It's brilliant! What else can I name a dragon?! Oh, "Amber Eaters" are now "Amber Dragons!" And I get paid every time someone says it! I can do that! I have that power! That is my breath weapon! OH, THAT'S IT! I'M A DRAGON! A CHLORA DRAGON! THAT MEANS I AM A DRAGON-LEVEL THREAT! OH THE POWER! THE POWER! RAAAAAAAWR! HERE COMES THE CHLORA DRAGON!

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian (and DRAGON)

Okay, Chlora, looks like we need to have a sit down and little chat. Just want to check in to make sure everything is alright and that all this studying and working isn't causing you too much stress. When you have the time, please swing by my place because I would really like to know: what this is!?

Eucella Raviida

Editor & Therapist (apparently)

-----------------------------------

"Ushi-oni"

Was torn on what to make this beast: spider or crustacean. I know either option would have been fine, but crustacean won out in the end.

[crystallizsch]

Hi...I'm new to the twst fandom, and i saw you help out someone else with recommendations so i was hoping you could help me tooo? 🥺 I'm worried about bothering people with asks and stuff, so i was wondering if you had any recommendations for blogs of nice/welcoming people in the fandom? 👉👈 It would be nice to make some friends...

You seem really friendly and welcoming, which is why I managed to send this...I just don't want to annoy anyone...💔💀 Thanks!!!!!!!!

AWHH HELLO HI WHAT THANK YOU SO MUCH??

i sometimes worry that i may be too overwhelming (if that’s the right word for it???) to even approach so that means so much to hear 😭💖💕

also i MAY have rambled too much,,, i ended up giving (unsolicited) advice as well im so sorry but i just wanted to say some additional things too about making friends in the fandom in general 🤧

anyways anon it’s all right under the cut 💖

AAGH FIRSTLY welcome to the twst fandom!! so glad to see you joining in!

i’ve only been in the fandom since the beginning of this year actually! and so far as my experience goes it’s been so fun!! people create amazing things and share amazing ideas with one another so i hope you enjoy your stay!

ALSO it makes me happy that you even think i’m approachable enough for recs 😭💖

i'm admittedly very biased though because a lot of the blogs i consider nice/welcoming are already mutuals/friends of mine 🤧

and i’m lowkey highkey kind of shy mentioning them again ahglsjdlsalk so i’d like to point you back to that original post here even though im assuming that you literally just came from there 😭

im so sorry i couldnt be more helpful with recs 😭💔 but all of them i do consider pretty nice blogs!!

ANYWAYS PLEASE DONT WORRY ABOUT “ANNOYING” ANYONE YOU ARE NOT A BOTHER most people love receiving asks/interactions!!

i really understand the feeling though!! it’s hard making that first move sometimes,,, and honestly (i know it sounds incredibly cliche but) you’ll never really know if you’ll click with someone here until you try!!

and i'm not sure if you post or not but! it's definitely how I've met the people i’m mutuals/friends with here!

i’ve made friends with others who regularly/every now and then reblog with nice tags or comments on my posts ;;; and i do the same on my main blog! i tend to leave a lot of tags when i reblog posts that i like

and sometimes it just,,, happens??? especially if you and the other person have a shared interest in the fandom!

anyways,,,

send people asks!! reblog with nice tags!! comment!! just let other people that you're there!! the right people for you will reciprocate 💖💖💖 (also this is in no way being against people who just prefer to silently lurk/interact btw i still appreciate you guys 🫶 this is just for if you want to interact more and make friends in the process!!)

but that's just me!!

similar to what i said on the original post i encourage you to find and interact with other people that you think you would vibe with!!

there's a lot of different corners in this fandom that are into way different things about the game than me. and the people that i vibe with might not necessarily vibe with you which is not anyone's fault!! it’s just the way it is 💖

(also i forgot to mention this in my original post --- i'm not sure if you're a minor or not so make sure if you decide to check out some blogs allow minors to interact 🙏 ) (and a lot of blogs outline their boundaries and rules on their intro posts that are pinned so keep that in mind!)

i have no idea how to end this hsjshsjs but generally just find others who like the same twst things as you and interact with them!! it’s okay to do little by little until you’re comfortable, there is never any rush 🫶

AGAIN i hope you have fun here and i wish you the best!! 💖💖💕

[anachronismstellar]

NHS post canon

Here we go folks! All the requests for NHS on the Wip Wednesday community!

If you wanna see more of this, don't hesitate to send me an ask! :D Make me write!

@aparticularbandit

He ought to let go of his dark thoughts for now. It wouldn't be a good idea to let his mask slip, even if no one called him “Headshaker" no more, not every one knew the monster that lurked behind it.

The innkeeper brought his bottle, leaving right after with a quick bow, rushing to tend to other tables, the place too busy for him to keep all his attention on Huaisang.

@post-and-out

He had chosen to wear more discreet robes today, but still, there weren’t many cultivators that kept a saber instead of a sword, and even fewer ones that carried a fan like he did. With these two things combined, it wasn’t hard to identify him if one knew what to look for. And people knew what to look for.

@wizisbored

That's precisely the reason why he sat on the far back of the room, not to hide himself, he knew it was useless to try to do so, but to have an ounce of privacy while he waited. If one thing he learned from his revenge was that the Cultivation world was worse than old ladies with gossip; no Sect Leader could sneeze without it being the hot topic for the week. At some point, he had started to fan himself again, slowly sipping his wine, watching the room emptying as time passed by.

@1attheedge

He wasn’t hunting ghosts but hunting nonetheless and would do him no good to expose himself early in the game.

Finally, when he had almost lost hope and left the inn, the room dove into silence, followed by a flood of talking. Whispers of “Lan-gongzi” spread like fire, even so he kept his eyes away from the striking figure dressed in white and blue, pretending not to see him walking straight towards Nie Huaisang's table.

@scifikimmi (Ikr?? I love him too, fav dark gray moral blorbo ♡)

Hn. Maybe finishing a second bottle hasn't been the best idea, he thought as he tried to ignore the tingle in his fingers, the heat burning his stomach. He knew better than to drink so much, especially Emperor's Smile, it left him in a bad mood, resentment dripping from him like a summer rain, but he could only stand so much of Caiyi Town without alcohol to cope.

@whimsicalmeerkat

“Nie-zongzhu.”

Ah. Here we go, then.

Nie Huaisang took a moment to look at the Lan disciple in front of him, keeping his movements sluggish, an aloof smile on his lips. He didn't get up, but he tilted his body deeply forward as a sign of respect.

@disastardly

“Lan-gongzi,” he answered back, gesturing for the other to sit down. “What an honorable surprise. Would you like some tea? This inn has a lovely blend, I believe it is Zewu-jun's favorite.”

@gnomer-denois

The flinch was so honest that Nie Huaisang almost felt bad for the boy. Well, not actually a boy anymore. The kid had grown up to be a fine man, and probably he would be a very good Sect Leader, some day from what Huaisang had heard.

@agent-p-94

“Nie-zongzhu, with all due respect, I only came here to understand the meaning of this,” then he threw a sheet of paper on the table, the good quality and weight making it land on the wood with a soft thump. Huaisang stared as his own handwriting, not bothering to read the content but searching for any clues of it being altered somehow. Not that he believed that any person from the Lan Clan would do anything to it. It would certainly break at least ten rules if they did so. But. Well.

@lizhly

(no regrets no mercy >:) but who knows, this talk might help him with all the resentment! lol)

Old habits die hard, don't they, San-ge? “I'm glad to help, Lan-gongzi. Which part didn't you understand?” “EVERYTHING!” he shouted in the most un-Lan manner Nie Huaisang had ever seen.

And that's all for NHS pos Canon! Where am I going with this? No idea! Was I planning to add poor Lan Jingyi to NHS mess? Nope! But I love him and I wanna try my hand at a more mature LJY.

BTW, MDZS has a lot of honorifics and cultural aspects that I only know from watching the live action and the animation. I did a lot of research, but this is my first time writing for the fandom. If I need to change anything or if there's any Mandarin/cultural mistakes, please let me know!

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

Why is it that every time there's new material that points to a more sympathetic take on Belos' backstory (i.e. seeing Caleb go into the graveyard portal so happy without noticing him), there are fans who act so zealous and knee-jerking about it, saying that Belos doesn't deserve even a moment of sympathy?

I mean it's not like fans (most of them anyways) who take are saying Belos is justified to do his witch genocide. He's still a villain. Still wrong and immoral. The only difference is that Belos isn't the pure evil monster that fans make him out to be. Just a horrifying, monstrous figure born from common human emotions and rigid upbringings, things that hit close to reality.

In all irony, I think that if you change the word "Belos" into "witch", a lot of these retributive justice statements start to sound awfully like the villain they're all rooting against. Says a lot about our justice system.

I believe there are two factors at play here: the first is that a lot of the fans in this fandom are relatively young and tend to have a dogmatic view of things. I'm willing to bet that the people who think that Belos doesn't deserve an ounce of sympathy and the people who think that merely enjoying villain characters speaks to your moral rectitude are going to be similar, if not the same people. Those people have latched onto the idea that since Belos is an irredeemable monster, any kind of humanizing moment is the same as excusing his behavior. Which of course, is nonsense.

The second is framing from the story: The Owl House has gone above and beyond showing nearly every evil act Belos has done, how he has personally victimized several major characters, and is the sole cause of evil in this world. At the same time, they have created a very compelling, very tragic backstory but it was in the literal background in Hollow Mind and briefly shown again in King's Tide, but the audience never had time to process what was quickly being shown and we still don't have concrete answers to what exactly went down between Philip and Caleb, so everything has to be inferred and only the most dedicated Belos fans have done that. Belos' backstory was briefly told by Masha but that was quickly overshadowed by Hunter's possession. Because of this, casual audiences can take Belos at face value and focus on all the evil he has done and hate the character and ignore the more subtle portrait of him that is lurking just beneath the surface.

The irony is that the audience has a well, puritanical view of the character and any deviance from that is a form of heresy. I wish the writers had shown a more dynamic character earlier on and brought more of his story to the forefront so we could see how dangerous it is to demonize other people, even those we hate. This is basically how Philip became Belos; he allowed hate to consume him and refused to see any other way because it clashed with his ideals and worldview (that and the brother trauma).

I feel like if you only see characters one way, especially after getting new information that recontextualizes their story, then that is just a shallow way to interact with media. You're missing out on not only a great story, but a story that can challenge your preconceived notions and one in which you could possibly learn from. And it's only worse if the writers continue to justify one way of reading a character instead of expanding on that character.

My only hope for the finale is that we see a full portrait (or as full as we can get) of Belos instead of him repeating the same old tired shtick of possessing people.

Thank you for the ask!

[pfirsichspritzer]

Answer the Questions and Tag 5 Fanfic Authors

tagged by @menina89, thank you. Doing this required more introspection than I initially thought, but it was a lot of fun 💕

1 . How did you get into writing fanfiction?

I had my first encounter with fanfiction when I was around 12 or 13 and discovered the (no-longer online) site myfanfiction.de. Back then I was really into twilight and so I created an account and started writing (in German). My first story was like 200 - 400 words per chapter and I think I gave up after 5 - 6 chapters. I posted a few more one-shots but honestly, the site was terrible and overly moderated. Two of my stories got banned for apparently being wrongly rated G and that was pretty frustrating. I wrote a few more stories for myself, but during most of high school and university years I only wrote assignments and papers. I stopped reading fanfiction altogether too for a while and only came back to it when discovering fanfiction.net and then ao3. There were so many stories and so much more engagement on those English sites, which was amazing. I did think about writing a few times but I was intimidated by the thought of doing so in English, which is not my mother tongue, so for years I was simply lurking in the shadows.

Then came 2022, which was a very rough year for me and induced a lot of anxiety, so in autumn after a spontaneous idea for a fic, I just started writing again to cope with some of those feelings. I posted the first chapter for the hell of it, but the Rogue One fandom was so nice and encouraging, that I just kept writing. 

The idea for my first story in the Lockwood & Co. fandom was born because I was looking for a specific story I. When I could not find it, I simply wrote it myself. 

2. How many fandoms have you written in?

Four fandoms I published something in. Probably one or two more, writing just for myself. 

3. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

The first fic on my ao3 account was posted October 2022. 

In my teenage years maybe another 4 years ?

4. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

Definitely read. 

5. What is one way you’ve improved as a writer?

Writing multi-chapters. I used to lose interest in them pretty quickly. But I’ve actually finished 2 in the last one-and-a-half years, which I am actually kind of proud of. 

Other than that, I like to think that my English has gotten better (I hope) and I am less critical of myself, actually enjoying reading my own stories once in a while. 

6. What’s the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

I once went down a rabbit hole researching the Jacobite uprising and the Glencoe massacre, including watching a 1,5 h documentary (for a 1000 word case fic). That was probably the most niche topic. 

Other than that, I often research medical conditions, to not get them completely wrong. I did a lot of research on pregnancy and childbirth, including making a detailed calendar on gestational age and events that should take place. I generally like to make timetables for longer fics, to get the seasons and months right and to not give a month too many days. 😉

7. What’s your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

I love each and every comment. I maybe tend to reread comments more often of people pointing out things they liked, their favourite part, or swooning over characters. Also, when someone catches a hidden meaning or reference to another chapter, that is really amazing. But honestly, every comment makes my day and puts a huge smile on my face. 🥰

8. What’s the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

Probably struggles with fertility. Other than that I think I’m pretty mainstream.

Though, I wrote a Christmas market one-shot set in the city I live in once, which could be considered niche because of the non anglo-american or British setting. 

9. What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

It takes me a long time to write descriptions. Often there is a scene in my head that I want to bring to paper (or computer screen). But then I realize that I lack the vocabulary to formulate the sentences as flowery and beautifully as I’d like. So, I end up googling words for hours. 

10. What is the easiest type?

Fluff. I love writing tender scenes between characters. 

But also Angst, I think. Probably because I am a very anxious person. 

11. Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

On my computer. I write in MS word. Then I copy the whole text into google docs, and do the editing there. 

Most ideas come to me while commuting, going for a walk, or showering. So, I either take quick notes on my phone or actually sit down and type it into my laptop, if I have time. Mostly, I end up writing in the evening, but I am actually more productive in the morning (again if there is time) 

12. What is something you’ve been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

Smut. 

13. What made you choose your username?

I chose it, because I am a microbiologist at heart. It could be argued that Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also known as bakers’ yeast, is one of humanity's oldest production animals. It is also one of the first microorganisms I was able to observe under a microscope and I think the cells look adorable. Apparently, someone else thought so too, because the username was already taken. That’s why I chose Saccharomyces_97

Tagging: @alphacrone @woahpip @oceanspray5 @cate-deriana and @the-biscuit-agreement (I'm terribly late and don't know who has done this before. So sorry, in case of double tag 😉 )

[thesilversun]

Shipper Tag Game

Thank you to @hils79 for the tag

What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care about anymore? Honestly, I don't think there is one. I just wasn't into shipping or any kind of romance thing for the majority of my teens. (If it wasn't a book that was historical or fantasy or mystery with little to no romance I generally wasn't interested - I read a lot of Cadfael, Sherlock Holmes, LOTR, Pratchett, David Gemmell and Bernard Cornwall.) I only ended up finding fandom at all looking for Highlander gen fic, and came across m/m fic.

2. Which ship would you consider your first one? Mac/Methos would be the first one that I ever specifically looked for.

3. Your first fanfic was about which couple? Mac/Methos - no, it was never posted anywhere, nor is it likely to be.

4. Do you remember the first couple you saw fanart of? I have no idea. Maybe Highlander? I just used to lurk on the edges of fandom there. So maybe not until I got into watching Torchwood.

5. Have you ever gotten into ship discourse? Not really, it doesn't interest and i've got little enough time to spare to do fandom stuff, that I'm not using it on pointless arguments.

6. Did you use to have any NOTP or have one currently? Yes and yes. It's rare though - I think in about 10 different fandoms there have been just 2 notps. For one of them it's only about a specific pairing - I like both in other pairings. The other - nope, they are not paired with anyone and for the most part his existence is ignored.

7. Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read? Probably Di Feisheng/Li Lianhua - but I've not ready anything for a few days, it might not have been.

8. Currently, do you have any OTPs? I do tend towards being a multi-shipper in the sense that I'll have more than one ship I like in a fandom at the same time. So for the fandoms I'm currently writing in: Mysterious Lotus Casebook: Feihua, Difang and Difanghua MDZS: wangxian, xicheng, songxiao, sangcheng, nielan,

9. Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together? Not really, shows will do what they do, fan fic to take it where you want it to be.

10. Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting? Not really. I think maybe if any I in was producing new canon material that could give a different perspective on a character?

11. Do you have any ship that, in the past, would've been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over? I don't really think I've got any. I mean I could see people being funny about Jack/Ianto these days. It's boss/employee, they did threaten to kill each other and they have a 100+ age difference. On the other hand they did get over the hating each other part and became a canon pairing - so people might still roll with it?

12. What is your favorite crack ship? I had a lot of fun writing a PC Andy/Captain John Hart Torchwood fic.

13. What is the couple you read the most fanfics about? In total since I first started reading fics - that's probably going to have to go to Jack/Ianto - they were the otp of my main fandom for the best part of a decade.

14. What do most of your ships usually have in common? Characters mid 20s or older, competent at what they do - which probably includes combat, some kind of traumatic past, they see/come to see each other as equals.

15. What you absolutely hate in a ship? Contrived misscommunication, forced reliance (learning to rely/lean on each other support, good 100% like. One character manipulating things so the other is forced into reliance on them - nope, well not unless you are wanting it to be a messed up horrible relationship - but I've seen people think it as cute and no, nope, from me that's not a thing i enjoy reading in that context.)

I tag: @heyholmesletsgo @bbcphile @cheesybadgers @galexibrain and whoever else wants to play.

[gust-jar-simulator]

I keep dissociating and forgetting the names of my Tool Gods Links, so that obviously means I need to do a lot of silly OC question things.

So.

What are the TG Links doing at a fancy castle ball?

Bloodfeather- There aren't enough people in his Hyrule for a ball. If there are he doesn't want to be there. He's sticking close to any windows and staring at the sky with increasing desperation as the event goes on.

Hope- Honestly I think he's really clumsy. Tiny child tries to attend a ball, gets tripped over and knocks himself out on a nearby potted plant.

Smithy- He can put up with the fanfare for a bit but he'll either end up trapping a bunch of nobles in his Infodump Event Horizon or critiquing the quality of the nearest metalwork. A safe place to put him is near the guards, he'll wear them down into talking shop and maybe small town smalltalk.

Four- Get him out of there. He's too anxious to last long. He dances a lot (and very well) but he's nobody's favorite dance partner, because he dances to ward off The Anxiety. A ball feels too much like a dungeon crawl with no clear win condition. When it's bad he starts reflexively pickpocketing.

Lost- He's great at balls. He doesn't talk, which occasionally gets him in trouble, but he's very charming and nobody can tell he's bored out of his gourd. Politics are So Stupid and he hopes Zelda socially destroys someone. Or asks him to. Please. He wants to be in the garden with the fairies.

Found- He's also great at balls. He's got slightly more patience and a willingness to pay attention to the conversation around him. He dances very well, but the only thing he really enjoys about balls is traumatizing a random noble in a way they can't prove or tag-team snarking quietly on the sidelines. Also he enjoys the chance to be handsome.

Hibiscus- A ball is an escape room and the way to win is not enter in the first place. She'd rather die than attend. She'd rather split into the doppels and start destroying property. You'd have to blackmail her. Or worse, she might attend if someone she cares about says it's important to them. Then she'll be late because she's trying to dress up and nothing is good enough. Wallflower time, possibly lurking by the drinks like a prey animal.

Sage- He's got no idea what he's doing but he's polite enough to make it work. He tries to wear his armor and just buff the dragon scales a bit. It technically works. He's horrible at conversation because the nobles are using doublespeak and he's unintentionally threatening everyone while talking about a day in the life. Nobody knows if he's stupid or ridiculously bold. In truth, he's just friendly. And absolutely cannot dance. (Fairy dances aren't safe or appropriate for the setting)

Wyr- Help him. He can do street festivals and harvest dances and even howl at the moon. Balls? Gods. Zelda just asks him to stand there and look pretty and he's fine with that. Two minutes into noble jockeying he starts blushing violently and stuttering and yearning for a straightforward spar. Balls also tend to have bigots, and they're incapable of taking it outside like normal people. He wishes the concept of balls was a bitable problem.

Light- Spends the entire time repressing his instinct to prank. He's got terrible impulse control, so he may or may not succeed. Balls are both overstimulating and understimulating and make him feel vaguely like he's under attack, so he's low level anxious. The jokes about setting something on fire to liven things up are only half jokes. A disaster at balls.

Wars- He does exactly what he's been programmed to do, whether he knows it or not.

Damaz- It really, really wants to be one of the guards. Furniture. An accessory. It's a weapon and it's good at being a weapon. It likes Gerudo festivals, especially the sword dances, but fancy Hyrulean royal balls? Please just put it on security detail. Watching it attempt to emote in a neurotypical way is genuinely painful sometimes. Extremely likely to hide with Hibiscus near the punch bowl, or Bloodfeather near a window.

Wake- An absolute WINNER at balls. He's charismatic, socially fluent, takes no shit and no prisoners but manages to spin any problems into a good joke. He's got stories for days, and the rakish mystique of a pirate. Girls and guys alike are all aflutter.

[lucy-and-rebecca]

Traveler

So...

I play Genshin Impact. This game has become a sort of obsession for me. There are a lot of lovable and interesting characters in it and I want to discuss my favourite one. The character that to me is the most fascinating among them all.

I'm of course talking about the traveler.

Just hear me out okay.

Before continuing I just wanna note that I play as Lumine and it's obvious that Hoyoverse has a favourite child and it's definitely not Lumine. So to restore balance in the universe I'm going to be referring to the traveler as Lumine.

A lot of people who think about the story critically tend to have a negative reaction to the traveler. A lot of people seem to believe that traveler is an asshole despite what the game tries to tell us.

So is traveler a good person? I don't know and honestly I don't care. If you hate the traveler that's fine. I'm not gonna defend her. Personally I do think she's not selfish exactly but self centred. You could say that makes her a bad person. But regardless of whether or not she's a bad person, I don't think she's a bad character.

Traveler and her brother are these two seemingly immortal beings that has seen stars born and die. They have been to many worlds, met people there and then completely left those worlds and people behind never to be mentioned again. Through these worlds there is only one person who was with the Traveler. Her brother.

Traveler is not big on found family. She is loyal to her brother and she will put him before everything else. She values her relationship with him over everything else. That doesn't really work well with our idea of a fantasy/isekai protagonist. But it makes sense for the Traveler. Because any and all relationships she makes are doomed to end and the one and only person who will be by her side is her brother.

In 'we will be reunited' when Lumine finds out her brother is the prince of the abyss order, she didn't really seem bothered by it. She just wanted to be with her brother. When Aether tells her that the people from Khaenri'ah were turned into monsters her response is "you can tell her all about it once they leave the world." At no point in the story she thought of him as evil.

In the first act of the sumeru quest when she's tripping and we end up fighting an abyss lector, the abyss lector basically tells her that her brother doesn't love her anymore. That's her fear. Traveler in her voice lines has talked about having a recurring nightmare where her brother is walking away from her and no matter what she can't reach him. In 'Requiem of the Echoing Depth' the chasm quest with Dainsleaf she sees Aether making his plan to basically kill all the hillichurl in an extremely painful way and tries to reach out to him as his past self walked past her. She heard his plan and she didn't care.

I won't say the Traveler doesn't care about the world or the people in it but rather she cares about it in a way that one might care about a stray cat. Traveler will help out if something horrible is happening right in front of her or if someone she cares about is in trouble. But she has no values, no beliefs, no real sense of right and wrong. I mean yeah Traveler would probably agree that you shouldn't blow up puppies for fun but it doesn't go beyond that. Traveler sometimes gets attached to the people in the world and will help them. If someone is throwing rocks at her favourite stray cat she will stop them. But her connection to this world don't go deeper than that.

One thing that I notice over and over again is that the traveler feels like an outsider. So many characters in this story have deep, meaningful and complicated relationships with each other and travels feels like they are just lurking on the sidelines. In 'Inversion of Genesis', the recent interlude quest, Nahida straight up says "There is a corner of your heart reserved for an intense longing... A feeling of a being all alone in the dark, searching for the one candle whose light still burns" which is a very convoluted way of saying you miss your brother.

That's the thing though, the Traveler isn't just missing her brother. It goes deeper than that. Their relationship goes beyond familial relationship. It's honestly very creepy.

It's interesting to see the twin's attack animations side by side. They are not identical but they compliment each other. They cover each other's blind spots. Even when all alone and while using abilities they didn't have previously their animations compliment each other. I wouldn't have paid attention to it they were identical but they aren't. Both of them still move as if the other is by their side.

The Traveler is not a person as much as they are one half of a pair and she is incomplete without her brother. Eventually everyone in this world and then the world itself will come to an end and the traveler will outlive it all. Eventually with time she will forget everyone she has ever met (as there is absolutely nothing to indicate traveler's memory is more powerful than your average human). The only person who will be with her and the only person she will remember is her brother. I think her brother's actions doesn't matter to her because what's the point? When all of this is over he's all she will have left.

I absolutely love it. I think traveler as a character is sad more than anything. We witness this world from her point of view and it will leave an impact on her as it will for most people. But we will move on. This game and these characters will eventually fade from our mind just like it would from the Traveler's mind. I will move on and so will Lumine. So in that way Traveler is the perfect stand in for the player.

I'm well aware that I'm quite possibly reading too much into things but that's the fun in consuming fictional media. I do genuinely like Lumine and I like the idea of an immortal being who is doomed to lose everyone and everything over and over again slowly becoming more and more apathetic towards the world and I think or rather wish that's what the Traveler is.

[enneamage]

Referring to the war between tntduo fans and that other pair *cough* crimeboys fans *cough* you're absolutely right. I've noticed it for a while now that they're both sides of the same coin. Both fans use the same talking points, although it's def more valid for tnt fans bc the content they're criticizing includes a relationship that has been skewed into inappropriate territory under the label of 'platonic'. Still, the argument is the same over and over, a crimeboys writer/artist gets called out, there's infighting within the subtwt, then tnttwt gets on their ass, and vice versa. This is definitely attributed to the fact that both subtwts feel threatened by the other, bc they don't want to share wilbur bc of their respective duos.

Yeah, the slap-fight generally plays out that tntduo are too horny and ‘crimeboys’ are too incesty / (literally) infantilising and they routinely get angry at each other. They both have a point to at least some degree but them blatantly wishing the other subtwt away doesn’t tend to come from pure moral concern. I think a lot of subtwts hate sharing a website with each other because of how easily and often they see each other, big part of twitter.

(The other wilbur pair is tombur ‘crimeboys’ and the people who are not used to / don’t want to share the idea of Wilbur's one-and-only not being Tommy.)

I really value the separate-ness of the tumblr space, I think it keeps a lot of people sane. Visibility is lower on tumblr so lurking ‘main’ is harder to pull off, which I think is better for everybody. Respect to everyone who isn’t so uptight-- When I’m talking about main, I often mean twitter because just the social practices around how people act are fairly unique to the way that website is designed.

When I first went into this fandom I was kind of doing it from a people-watching angle-- I could tell immediately that the social shell that had formed to half-control cc and fan groups was really strange and unstable. I still keep a finger on what happens on twitter-main since lurking is easy and blowups there are most likely to affect ccs, so I tend to overlook tumblr sometimes (ironically.)

Party on tungle dot com,

[akkrosu]

@majestictortoise Has somebody else caught me awkwardly lurking around spam-liking everything they post because I don’t do Tumblr the way it was probably intended? Because that must be the only way anyone can possibly know who I am. Well, thanks anyway!

Five things I like about myself? God, I hate this already, thank you very much. I’ll try, and right now I’m really glad I know pretty well what I’m good at, so there’s that.

I am undoubtedly good at languages. I don’t tend to put it like this often because it makes me self-conscious, but I think it means something when you study Applied Linguistics and are better at the foreign languages you study than 95% of the people you study with. I speak English pretty much as if it were my native language, various Spanish professors have asked me if I have family in Spain (which I don’t), and I am twice as fast at reading Chinese texts than my classmates after a year of studying it. And it’s both because I have a natural understanding of how languages work and because I actively put in the work and have the motivation to fully engange in a language.

I like learning. I always want to learn more. There’s this great German word, “wissbegierig”, that basically means “greedy for knowledge”, and I 100% subscribe to that idea. It doesn’t even matter if I’m interested in the topic or not—I soak up new knowledge like a sponge. And I’m also pretty good at remembering it.

I am nice. I like helping people. No matter if I know a person or not, if I like them or not—if someone so much as mentions needing something or not being able to do something, I will jump at the chance to offer my help. I once tutored a classmate in music theory even though she had never been nice to me after being in the same class for 7 years and even though I knew she would basically never talk to me again afterwards, just because I wanted to help her. I am terrible at accepting I can’t help someone, and will spend ages trying to figure out another way to offer my help. I guess a lot of things in the world could be better if people helped each other out more.

I say thank you a lot. This seems like a small thing, but I think it’s so important to say thank you if someone does something for you, small and mundane as it may be. It makes the other person happy, they know you appreciate them, it’s just great for an interpersonal relationship.

When I do things, I do them right. Even if it’s just listening to someone speak or loading the dishwasher. This often means I am slow at getting stuff done and tedious about the process, but everything I do, I get perfectionist about it until it’s just the way I want it. So if someone asks me to do something, they can be assured I’ll do everything they wanted and often more. Even if that often means they are asked a hundred seemingly tiny things about the task before it’s actually done. But I really like looking back at what I did after I finish and seeing something well done, something I’m proud of.

Thank you, I feel mildly uncomfortable now. Then again, it’s important to talk about what you like about yourself sometimes instead of drowning in self-pity thinking about everything you’re not happy with. So thank you for tagging me! Forgive me if I don’t tag anyone, I’m too much of an online (and often offline) loner who doesn’t know people. It was fun doing this though!

[someotherdog]

get to know the author!

name : velouria! mutuals can call me rachel if they want since it's my real name but i respond to both

pronouns :  she/her

preference of communication : i prefer tumblr im to start with so we can get to know each other and do some light plotting. then move onto discord for in-depth plotting if our personalities mesh well :)

most active muse :  i go through phases where i'll have a lot of muse for a certain few one week and then lose their voice the next week lol, and a lot of the muses i have are quite selective because their setting/personality is very specific and can sometimes be hard to tap into. generally, i'm always rarin' to go with jeannie, ingrid, lisa, gideon, heidi, vikram, and taher. (now actually getting people to rp with these hoes is the hard part lmao)

experience / how many years : i don't want to talk abt it... jk, i started in 2005 i believe? on myspace mainly and i lurked a few message boards back in the day but never actually used them. i wasn't always roleplaying though, i'd often take long breaks throughout the years, sometimes for months, but it's been a part of my life for a long time! after myspace shut down, i went on to roleplayer.me until 2015 when one day i saw an rpg promo in devon bostick's tag (that name's a blast from the past, i know) and i subsequently made the permanent switch to tumblr :) so you can pretty much consider me a veteran around these parts. i remember the days when people used the cast of one tree hill when it was actually currently airing as fcs (or playbys, as we called them) and every third muse was named seraphina!!!

best experience : i think one of the best times i had on here was during christmas 2015 in the rpg hell state bc it was very active and i had a lot of good storylines going! the best time i had on rp.me was the group verse i had for a knockoff of terra nova called alia terra, which i actually made into an rpg on here and then made a closed verse between lucia and i so we could continue some dino fun! but i did it on rp.me shortly before i made the switch to tumblr so i kinda roll that all into one. i mean don't get me wrong i've had some great experiences on here, and lately have been having an amazing time with my writing partners, new and old, but those two are events that stick out in my mind. and also meeting lucia in 2015 duhhh of course!!!!!!!

rp pet peeves : honestly i don't want to say bc i don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or discourage people from writing with me lmfao, but i'll just say it has to do with dropping articles and using two certain french words 😬😬😬

fluff, angst, or smut : if i could crush up angst and snort it i would. i don't write smut (just a personal choice, not a judgment!) and fluff doesn't really interest me unless there's an undercurrent of angst or toxicity lmaooo, but i'm mostly interested in genre fiction like horror/slasher or sci-fi anyway and angst is kind of a package deal with those topics

plots or memes : i like to start with a general idea and then just kinda improvise. i also don't mind having structed plot points like going from a > b > c but having the freedom to do what we want in between those points. i also have absolutely no issue with changing or adding things as we go along! i'm basically very hype for anything

long or short replies : i'm a wordy bitch! when it comes to replies, i tend to stick with 2-4 for my 'shorter' threads but i have no issue getting up to 5-9 paragraphs if i'm really feeling something. no worries about matching length, btw, as long as it's not egregious like getting a few sentences in response when i wrote you four paragraphs, because i feel that's just rude. i also tend to start out small and get bigger as we go on, since i do like to begin with a general idea and add on from there

time to write : so before i started my current job, i only wrote at night because writing when the sun was up seemed morally wrong lmfao. nowadays, i sometimes write my replies at work on my google drive and then edit/format them once i get home, but that's only when i work alone and it's not super busy, and i actually have writing muse for that day. after work, i'll get on after midnight since i don't get home until late and need to put on my jammies, take off my makeup, eat dinner, and watch some tv. even on my days off, i most likely won't get on until late in the night because my family actually has the audacity to want to see me during the daylight hours 🙄

are you like your muses : i have a lot of muses that share similarities with myself, but i also have muses i have absolutely nothing in common with, like blair the satanic serial killer or lauren the son of a cult leader turned political campaign manager. more than likely they'll have something random from me like also being allergic to penicillin or they drive a buick like i do lmao, but i don't have a muse i would really consider my 'self-insert' character!

tagged by: @thewolfruns

tagging: i feel like everyone has been tagged to do this already?? so if you haven't, pretend i did so you can have some fun too :)

[southern-belle-outcasts]

The frequency with which she strayed from her normal focus {which in all honesty was an understated word for how single-tracked she tended to be} was rare. Infrequent enough, in fact, that there was not a full array of options in her supplies to handle things of the more immaterial nature. The trailer attached to her pickup was not so depleted on cleansing materials she was really worried about it, and it wasn't as though the old reliable Zippo didn't work in most cases. She didn't show up unprepared...just not armed to the teeth, like she would usually prefer. But she hadn't felt like scouring the desert for a proper occult store, and she hadn't felt like straying too far from her intended route, so she had decided she could detour to investigate what truth there might be in some odd happenings at the motel.

The room was clean enough for sleeping in, but that didn't stop her usual busying about cleaning with her own supplies even as she laid down salt on the window sills, in front of the doorway. A general protection sigil was drawn on the door in white chalk that had been slightly dampened so it would stick better {horrible noise, every time}. Bed-knife wedged where it needed to be between the mattress and the bed-frame for when she would go to sleep...at some point.

Now that it was both clean of anything the staff had missed in their cursory cleaning of the room {which was to be expected in places like this one} and anything that might have been lurking about in that particular room, she then made a move to go outside and check around the place. The dog was already sleeping soundly on the bed, making light snoring noises, and not at all interested in playing assist after a day of being copilot.

Nilza needed at least the vaguest idea of what she was dealing with before she was going to be able to lay down and sleep. Besides, she could grab a smoke and some snacks while she looked around.

It was not every day one saw someone big enough to pick up a vending machine on their own, and even then size didn't actually denote strength. But the bulk of functional muscle even under clothes, even without knowing the person is often notable. His were not the muscles developed in front of a mirror for instagram followers to buy his sponsored preworkout, or questionable at best diet. No, clearly as evidenced by the fact he was lifting something without handles, they were for being readily available for work.

"I didn't say anything. Though it did kind of look like you about to yeet the fucking thing."

Broken? Something bad? How wonderfully cryptic, and altogether not the kind of introduction to the motel that she wanted.

He may be attempting to try and appear small, but when contrasted with someone as small as Nilza, the effort may as well have not even been given.

"I've heard lot crazier..." That wasn't even an exaggeration. She wished it were. But 'normal' had long been established as an illusion and not to be trusted even at the best of times.

She was no bruja, she had no idea what those words were beyond...a spell? A summoning? It didn't give the feeling of a warding, which she unfortunately did have experience dealing with. The chill to the air made her glad for the fact she was wearing her travel clothes- black cargo pants, her plain white t-shirt obscured by the black leather jacket with roses on the back; full coverage was the go to with the expectation of desert night, and strange men at rest stops. This was not simply the result of sun being long gone, though, and Nilza's jaw set slightly, but she didn't take open offense to his stopping her. She wasn't so sure she would touch that machine with a ten foot pole.

"Do I believe?" The words were repeated back in a slow, vaguely suspicious manner. "In...there's a lot of different things people put belief in." Each other, their country, their gods. No, no, and no. The Easter Bunny? The groundhog who supposedly predicts spring? Nope.

"If by that you mean," she lifted a Cheeto between two fingers indicatively. "Spooky motels that look like they were used to shoot some fucking A24 horror movie? Then yeah."

One booted foot shifts as she ponders why it might even matter, and she sits up. There's some go-to weapons in her thigh holster but she doesn't feel she needs them for Tol Bo- whatever the heck his name was. Names were a funny business- they weren't something you readily offered up, and even then rarely truthfully in either of her lines of work.

"I do myself the disservice of looking for that kind of shit. I still don't know why I bother." She really didn't, beyond feeling some vague kind of responsibility for not letting things happen to the people who remained blissfully clueless. She would have liked if she had stayed clueless.

"What was it you said back there?"

@southern-belle-outcasts sent://

🕯️ Ex-con for Nil {and got a (whole ass) starter (🤦)}

— ☾ —

Somewhere between Las Vegas and Los Angeles 

At Oasis, the motel sign said "vacancy" instead of "vacancies," and only two letters on the big road sign were visible from the expressway. A neon flamingo poured a tequila sunrise on the blind alley behind the customer service office. Here, around the brambled back of the double-storeyed Oasis Motel, a thickset man of colossal height, his thewed shoulders trundling under washed-out plaid, was engaged in a wrestling match with a large black vending machine. 

They were locked in a desperate, silent battle. The man's face was only partially visible from under his cap, statuesque as the body, though prickly some, and the big black box buzzed threateningly. 

He kicked it first—par for the course. Then, another two times in an idiosyncratic if methodic manner. He hesitated, lifting his head to listen for the sign of movement in the cooling breeze. When nothing came, he wrapped his arms around the snack machine, took the big black box into his immensity, and clean lifted it off the ground. 

Only then did that man register he was being watched by something other than the shadows in his mind. Someone. A damn small woman. 

Ben flinched at her appearance. Almost dropped the thing. Hadn't heard her coming. Didn't know there was anyone checked in who wasn't sleeping or minding their business. Hadn't seen her in the parking lot. Never mind what she wore; she was sturdy. Could've been security, he thought. Not that the old motel had a hub for security services. Weren't even cameras. 

She stood smirking at him, what Ben thought was smirking, anyway, hand on hip. 

Must have been a sight. 

"Uh..." 

He then initiated the Herculean procedure of setting the snack machine back down. Easy, so it didn't bump the pavement. 

"It's not..." Ben rolled his left shoulder. Mumbled, toeing the gravel. "They're broken. Clarice told me to check on it." 

She didn’t; he’d been hoping for another outcome, was all.

The small fry scowled at him. Woman behind the counter'd given Ben a look like that when he'd asked her about concessions, all things. 

'Those machines?' the woman at the desk blinked through her bottle lenses. She'd pressed he try the sweet little shop two miles back, but the large man before her was not going two miles back; that was plain.

'Clarice' must've been her name, according to the embroidered tag on her cardigan. Concern wrung her face into a furrowed, mousey fell. Nevertheless, she dutifully folded her glasses, retrieved her ring of staff keys, stepped off her pink plastic stool, and exited from behind the counter. 

Sphinx moths threw themselves at caged lanterns. The moon squatted on the low-slope roof, waiting as Clarice led Ben reluctantly past rooms 10, 11, 12, and 14, shuffling in her Chinese slippers. The vending machines thrummed under cold light. They didn't take money, Clarice explained. She gave him instructions. 

'Here we are,' she'd hummed nonchalantly. Patted her face with a handkerchief stitched with little roses. 'Well, hon. Good luck.' Padded away. Looking at him like he was in an open coffin at what should've been a closed-casket funeral. 

"Put money in there; something bad comes." His voice was low and clear, a bell toll. Good for telling stories. "You get what you paid for, and what you 'sowed' ‘s how she put it." 

Moon gone. The little Latina stared at him. Ben served the stare, eyes wide under his ball cap, before breaking contact. Carried out the Herculean undertaking of making himself small. 

"Sounds crazy." He huffed, himself in an equable state of mild discomfort. "Being honest, though, I don't like it, and I'm not gonna mess with it." 

Ben then cleared his throat, jammed his hands in his jeans pockets, and said the words as per Clarice’s instruction. Strange words he'd be happy if they never crossed his lips again. Out in the open, the words sort of shifted things. The whole valley seemed a cold, slow place. Air smelled off. Smelled like sick, like sharing a cell with someone whose foot had gone to rot. That was the first tell he should've turned the truck around, but without D.O., he paid less attention, and now the stretch of Martian roadway stilled. Everything stopped. 

While the Oasis Motel stopped, the vending machine spat out two bags of Wise chips, one bag of crunchy Cheetos, a Twix bar, trail mix, something called a Luna Bar Ben pictured a girl in heart-shaped sunglasses eating, and a PayDay. 

Stooping to push the product dispenser, Ben roped the junk food in his arm, and stopped the Latina from pressing any buttons or dropping a quarter into the coin slot. Didn’t touch her, didn’t near her, but held out a warning palm. A calloused stop sign.  

— ☾ —

The motel pool looks like a capsized cinderblock full of Kool-Aid. Pink lemonade. The pool lights are their only subject of conversation this juncture. Otherwise, they graze in silence. Flush shadows. They haven't yet exchanged names.

"That looks like blood to you?" Ben rolls his shoulder. There's a long pause. A small, resigned grunt. "All right." 

He shakes his head at the half-eaten bag of crunchy Cheetos. Nilza shrugs and drops a handful into her mouth, supine on the pool chaise like she's basking under the sun. Ben sits on his chair's perimeter, dead center of its length, where the teal PVC strips best bear his weight, holding a half-eaten PayDay between his knees and gazing dourly at the empty seats, the round aluminum stacking tables, and the folded umbrellas. The flat black sky with palm trees painted on top. The distant sierra, a prop range of dusty blue knuckles. The air cold and sour in his breast.

"Ask you something?" he says. "Do you believe?"