#don't think my reading list changed since the last time i did a tag game like this lmao

[hopelesslyprosaic]

A Different Kind of Queen of Crime- five ways that Dorothy L Sayers changed the way we see Sherlock Holmes

For my first Holmesian post- a crossover with one of my more usual subjects on my other blog! For when one is talking about Sherlock Holmes, in particular Sherlock Holmes scholarship, there are nor many more pivotal names than Dorothy L Sayers. Sure, Christopher Morley may have had a greater impact on Sherlockian culture, and Richard Lancelyn Green on Holmesian scholarship, to name only a few- but Sayers's contributions to scholarship and "the game" were early and underratedly pivotal.

If you're a Sherlock Holmes fan who is unfamiliar with Sayers's influence, or a Sayers fan who had no idea she had any interest in Holmes, keep reading! (And if you're a Sherlock Holmes fan who wants to know what I think about Sayers, check out her tag on my main blog, @o-uncle-newt. Or, more to the point, just read her fantastic books.)

There's a great compilation of Sayers's writing and lecturing on the topic of Holmes called Sayers on Holmes (published by the Mythopoeic Press in 2001), though some of her essays are also available in her collection Unpopular Opinions, which is where I first encountered them. It's not THAT extensive, and it's from an era in which Sherlock Holmes scholarship, such as it was, was still very much nascent. While a lot may have happened since Sayers was writing and talking about Holmes, she got there early and she made an immediate impact- and here's how:

She helped create and define Sherlockian scholarship: Don't take this from me, take it from the legendary Richard Lancelyn Green! At a joint conference of the Sherlock Holmes Society and Dorothy L Sayers Society, he said that "Dorothy L. Sayers understood better than anyone before her the way of playing the game and her Sherlockian scholarship gave credibility and humor to this intellectual pursuit. Her standing as an authority on the art of detective fiction and as a major practitioner invigorated the scholarship, and her...Holmesian research is the benchmark by which other works are judged. It would be fair to say, as Watson said of Irene Adler, that for Sherlockians she is the woman and that …she 'eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.'" We'll go into a bit more detail on some specific examples below, but one important one is that, as Green notes, Sayers was not only a mystery writer but an acknowledged authority on mystery fiction, whose (magisterial) introduction to The Omnibus of Crime, a then-groundbreaking history of the genre of mystery fiction, included a highly regarded section on the influence of Holmes on mystery fiction. She was able to write not just literate detective stories but literate critiques of others' stories and the genre (as collected in the excellent volume Taking Detective Stories Seriously), and as such, the writing she did on Holmes was well received.

She cofounded the (original iteration of) the Sherlock Holmes Society of London: While the current iteration of the Society lists itself as having been founded in 1951, a previous iteration existed through the 1930s, founded as a response to the creation of the Baker Street Irregulars in New York and run by a similar concept- the meeting of Sherlock Holmes fans every so often for dinner at a restaurant. Sayers, who seems to have been much more clubbable than Mycroft Holmes, helped run the Detection Club on corresponding lines as well. (Fun fact, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was invited to be the first president of the Detection Club! However, he refused on grounds of poor health and, either right before or right after he died, the Detection Club met for the first time with GK Chesterton as president.) While the 1930s society didn't last, and Sayers didn't decide to join the newly reconstituted club in 1951, her presence from the beginning was key to the establishment of Holmesian scholarship.

She helped define The Game: Sayers didn't invent The Game, as the use of Higher Criticism in the study of Sherlock Holmes came to be called. (The Game now often refers to something a bit broader than that, but it's a pretty solid working definition to say that it is the study of Holmes stories as though they took place in, and can be reconciled with, our world.) Her friend Father Ronald Knox largely invented it almost by accident- as Sayers described it, he wrote that first essay "with the aim of showing that, by those methods [Higher Criticism], one could disintegrate a modern classic as speciously as a certain school of critics have endeavoured to disintegrate the Bible." This exercise backfired, as instead of finding this analysis of Holmes stories silly, people found it compelling and engaging- and this style of Sherlockian writing lives on to this day in multiple journals. Sayers, with her interest in religious scholarship as well as Holmes, was well equipped to both understand Knox's original motivations as well as to carry on in the spirit in which further Game players would take his work, as we'll see. She also wrote the line that would come to define the tone used in The Game- that it "must be played as solemnly as a county cricket match at Lord's; the slightest touch of extravagance or burlesque ruins the atmosphere." While comedic takes on The Game would never vanish, her establishment of tone has lingered, and pretty much any in-depth explanation of The Game will include her insightful comment.

Some of Sayers's ideas became definitional: Here's a question- what's John Watson's middle name? If you said "Hamish," guess what- you should be thanking Dorothy L Sayers. (When this middle name was used for Watson in the BBC Sherlock episode The Sign of Three, articles explaining its use generally didn't bother to credit her, instead saying that "some believe" or a variation on that.) She was the one who speculated that the reason why a) Watson's middle initial is H and b) Mary Morstan Watson calls Watson "James" instead of "John" in one story is because Watson's middle name is Hamish, a Scottish variant of James, with Mary's use of James being an intimate pet name based on this nickname. It's as credible as any other explanation for that question, but more than that it became by far the most popular middle name for Watson used in fan media. Others of Sayers's ideas include that Watson only ever married twice, with his comments about experience with women over four continents being just a lot of bluster and him really being a faithful romantic who married the first woman he really fell for (the aim of this essay being to demolish HW Bell's theory of a marriage to an unknown woman between Mary Morstan and the unnamed woman Watson married in 1903, mentioned by Holmes in The Blanched Soldier); that Holmes attended Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (she denied that he could have attended Oxford, having gone there herself- fascinatingly, Holmesians who went to Cambridge usually assert that he attended Oxford! Conan Doyle of course attended neither school); and reconciling dates in canon (making the case that one cannot base a claim for Watson's mixing up on dates on poor handwriting as demonstrated in canonical documents, as it is clear from the similarity of different handwriting samples from different people/stories that they were written, presumably transcribed for publication purposes, by a copyist).

She wrote one of the only good Holmes pastiches: Okay, fine, I'm unusually anti-pastiche, and genuinely do like very few of them, but this is one that I love- and even more than that, it's even a Wimsey crossover! On January 8 1954, to commemorate the occasion of Holmes's 100th birthday (because, of course, he was born on January 6 1854- Sayers was more in favor of an 1853 birthdate but thought 1854 was acceptable), the BBC commissioned a bunch of pieces for the radio, including one by Sayers. You can read it here (with thanks to @copperbadge for posting it, it's shockingly hard to find online), and I think you'll agree it's adorable. The idea of Holmes and Wimsey living in the same world is wonderful, the way she makes it work is impeccable, and it's clearly done with so much love. Also you get baby Peter, which is just incredibly sweet!

I got into Dorothy L Sayers, in the long run, because I loved Sherlock Holmes from childhood and that later launched me into early and golden age mysteries- but it was discovering Sayers that brought me back full force into the world of Holmes. Just an awesome lady.

[dailynnt]

CAPTIVE OF HIS ATTENTION

♡ Summary: You're an art and design student at Seoul National University, trying to maintain your independence and focus on your studies. Your peaceful life is shattered when you meet Jungkook , a charismatic, stubborn, and unpredictable guy who pairs up with you for a group project. He starts to annoy you by challenging your principles. Jungkook, who loves to be the center of attention, uses his charming and playful nature to play with your feelings and control the situation. You are constantly trying not to succumb to his manipulations, but gradually you find that his influence on you is becoming stronger and stronger. The relationship between you is a game of power, desire, and sensation, where each tries to leave their mark without letting the other take over completely. But will you be able to maintain your independence, or will Jungkook eventually make you his?

♡ Couple: Jeon Jungkook/ Fem!Reader

♡ Characters: The Reader, Jeon Jungkook, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, Min Yoongi, Kim Seokjin, Kim Namjoon, Jeon Hoseok.

♡ Age restrictions: 18+

♡ Relationships: ⚤

♡ Number of part: 1/?

♡ Tags: university life, students, from enemies to lovers, everyday life, mild longing, sex, protected sex, unprotected sex, alcohol, smoking, profanity, tags will be added as the story progresses

♡ From the author: So the first part is ready. I'm so excited, will all of you love this story too? Let me know in the comments what you think about the first part 🥹🙏🏻❤️‍🔥

♡ Warning: English is not my native language, so there may be mistakes in the text. Please don't get mad at me too much! Those under 18, please don't read this story!

♡ Tag list : @kooko007, @someoneelse0109, @kelsyx33, @minimoninini, @smokinghotstargirl (Want to be on tag list? Just let me know)

PART 1: Partners in a group project.

The asphalt under your feet was half dry. Your white sneakers contrasted against the gray road surface. You tried to walk carefully so as not to fall into a puddle that hadn't dried.

Yesterday it had been raining all day, and this morning the sun appeared, which seemed to make this world more bearable. It was early spring outside. The end of March, to be exact. You breathed in the cool air, which was warmer than February and promised to more warm soon.

You walked at a brisk pace, looking at your watch at the same time. You were late for an early lecture on "Conceptual Art and Installation."

Last night, you slept poorly and not enough. The session soon is starting and you have been studying hard. You went to bed at three o'clock in the morning as soon as you finished working on the practical assignment for Graphics. You were also helping some of your classmates, so instead of doing one practice problem, you did 3. It wasn't hard for you. You loved to draw, and when you held a pencil or paint in your hands, time ceased to exist. That's why you didn't notice how late you stayed up late at night while drawing the practice tasks.

You also had a strange dream. You were in the arms of a guy. He was taller than you, and you remember wanting to look at his face in the dream, but you were blinded by the sun. You also remember having strange but strong feelings for this guy. Is this what everyone calls "butterfly feelings"? You remember how much you liked being in that hug and what the guy who was holding you said: "Who would have thought that I would change for you?"

You shake your head as if trying to drive away the thoughts of this dream and the feelings that have been overwhelming you since you woke up. You shouldn't fill your head with all kinds of nonsense. It's just a dream.

You run into the building, holding an unfinished cup of coffee. You bought yourself a double cappuccino to keep you going. It's crowded around you. In five minutes you have to be on the third floor in room 3001/b.

The professor is always on time. He is scrupulous and disciplined, and he demands the same from his students. So you are in a hurry. But it's not realistic to get to the classroom in 5 minutes. If you take the elevator, it will take 3 minutes, but seeing the line for it, you decide that you will take the stairs.

You almost ran. In a minute you were in the corridor leading to the stairs. You were holding the materials for today's lecture and the next two, and you had coffee to finish.

You see nothing but the door leading to the stairs. It is your ultimate goal to get there as quickly as possible.

As you reach a group of guys standing off to the side in the corridor, one of them takes a step to the side without noticing you. You crash into each other. You don't even realize it when his arms are around your waist, and you're leaning against his chest. You crash into his chest, knocking the air out of his lungs. You cry out and feel the coffee you didn't finish spilling onto his snow-white sweatshirt and your cream-colored sweater and coat. But you get only a few drops, and all other remainder of coffee on Jungkook.

Time stands still as you look up to see who you've crashed into. The light from the sun coming in through the panoramic windows on the first floor of the campus initially covers his face. But when he lowers his face between your bodies, which are still touched, you recognize him as Jeon Jungkook. The local playboy, and without exaggeration, the genius in your class.

He is a chaebol who is the heir to the "Jeon Art Group Foundation" which owns expensive and valuable art pieces and numerous art galleries in Korea and around the world. That's why he is probably studying at Seoul University. He is supposed to take his father's place one day, so this is where he will get the basic skills and knowledge about the business he will be doing.

But Jungkook seems to have other plans for his future. You study with him in the same stream and almost never see him at lectures. And when he does come down to mere mortals and honors the audience with his presence, he is almost always asleep. He is only at the university because his father is a good sponsor of the institution. If he had even your status, he would have been expelled long ago.

Although Jungkook is a hidden genius. You've seen his work, and it impressed you, to put it mildly. The way he used his drawing skills was absolutely amazing. It's a pity that such a talent was given to such a useless person as Jeon Jungkook.

You stared at the stain on Jungkook's chest, frightened, and didn't know what to do.

"Fuck..." - You hear Jungkook's irritated voice. It vibrates in your ears. You finally feel his arms around your waist, hear the quiet, mocking laughter of his friends from the side, and you fly away from him like a scalded.

You realize that your clothes are spoiled by coffee, and there is a black stains on Jungkook's chest and pants. You bow quickly, several times, apologizing.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't notice you, I was in a hurry..." - You say without looking at him.

"Damn! Girl, you ruined my clothes and my mood, and it's only morning..." - Jungkook says sarcastically. He's assessing the damage you've done.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't notice you..." - You apologize again and bow low. Jungkook finally pays attention to you. His eyes bore into your face. He looks you up and down and thinks he has never seen you before. And really why? Because he likes what he's looking at.

"You should watch your step, not sleep on the go." - He says defiantly. His friends standing nearby are watching the situation carefully.

You straighten up at his tone. Irritation rises in your chest. He's a cocky guy. He stepped into the road, so you hit him. It's his fault, too. You're annoyed that you sincerely apologized twice and this brat didn't even pay attention.

"I was awake." - You say firmly. "I apologized before, you shouldn't talk like that." - You bravely look at Jungkook's handsome face, which for some reason is unpleasant to you. He looks surprised, but he shows a cheeky smile. The corner of his mouth curves up and he hums.

"How is your apology going to save my $1,500 sweatshirt from Balenciaga?" - Jungkook asks you. You raise your eyebrows. Buying a new one is definitely not going to work. You don't have that kind of money. You take a deep breath and look up at Jungkook. His arrogance is off the charts. The situation was an accident, but he seems to have decided to make you look guilty of all the sins of the world.

"Probably not." - You answer in a steady voice, slightly shrugging your shoulders. "But if it's that important to you, I can pay for the dry cleaning." - You notice his friends laughing quietly behind him. Jungkook tilts his head slightly to the side, clearly intrigued by your calm tone and the fact that you're not giving up.

"Dry cleaning?" - He asks again, his voice filled with sarcasm. "You think that's going to solve the problem? This is Balenciaga, girl. Not some cheap stuff from the sale."

You press your lips together to keep from saying anything else. You take a deep breath, reminding yourself not to lose your temper.

"Yes, it's Balenciaga. But it's just clothes. And I've already apologized, so there's nothing more I can do!" - You answer confidently, tilting your chin.

His eyes squint. He obviously didn't expect you to put him in his place so quickly. His friends behind him are clearly interested in your answer. One of them seems to be laughing.

"Nothing you can do?" - He repeats slowly, as if savoring your words. "That's a cheeky answer for someone who just ran into me. Besides, how am I supposed to walk around all day with a black stain on my clothes?"

"Just as bold as standing in the middle of the hallway, disturbing others. It's Balenciaga, say to everyone that it a limited edition." - You say ironically.

This time, you can definitely see his eyebrows rise slightly. But instead of getting angry, he just smiles again, his cheeky smile that almost drives you crazy.

"You're an interesting girl…" - He says, leaning in a little closer, his voice lower. "You don't know your place, but it's kind of... fun. Are you new or something?" - You feel your cheeks start to flush, but you try to keep your composure.

"We've been studying in the same class for two years." - You say colorlessly. He's such an idiot that he doesn't know all his classmates by sight. Of course, why would a jerk like him want to? Maybe it's for the best that he didn't know you and didn't notice you before. After all, he seems to be an asshole. You decide it's time to leave. "I definitely don't belong here, wasting time arguing." - You retort, taking a step back. "Sorry about the stain, but I have to go. If you need to pay for dry cleaning, you'll find me in the classroom." - You say and turn to leave, but his voice stops you in your tracks.

"Hey, what's your name?" - You stop, but don't look back.

"I don't think it matters." - You throw over your shoulder and walk confidently toward the stairs.

Behind you, a voice is heard the soft laughter of his friends and someone's voice.

"That's Turner Y/N. She seems to be an exchange student." - One of them says in a low voice.

"Y/N." - Jungkook says, as if savoring your name on his tongue. Jungkook looks away and remembers your frightened face next to him and your big eyes of an unusual color.

"What? Did you like her?" - Jungkook's other friend asks. His voice is high and cheerful. His eyes sparkled with something sly. Jungkook smiled.

"She's hot, isn't she, Jimin? I've never had a foreign girl before." - Jungkook says cheekily. Jimin and the other friend laugh.

"Jungkook, it seems you've lost your future victim." - Says a black-haired guy who looks like a model.

"I don’t think so, Taehyung." - He replies with the same cocky smile, but now his eyes are curious.

You enter the classroom and apologize to the professor. As usual, he does not miss an opportunity to complain about the student's lateness. You listen to his reproaches for about 5 minutes. Almost when he finishes, you hear the door open behind you. Since you were standing close to the door, you find yourself almost standing next to Jungkook, who, as it turns out, is also late for Professor Park Min-suk's class.

"Look at that insolence!" - The professor was surprised as he looked at you and Jungkook. Jungkook gave you an indifferent look as he stood behind you. You immediately turned away. You noticed that Jungkook was wearing a T-shirt. It looked strange, because it was spring. You knew the reason why he was dressed like that.

"Sorry I'm late, professor." - You heard Jungkook's voice above your head. It felt like he was talking right into the back of your head. You didn't notice that he had come close and was standing almost next your body. "I had an emergency." - Jungkook tried to make excuses. The professor shook his head angrily.

"What situation made you 11 minutes late for the lecture?" - The professor asked for an explanation.

"Coffee was spilled on me and I had to change my clothes." - Jungkook said. You straighten your spine. Professor Park Min-seok frowned and tapped his fingers on the lectern in frustration.

"On you spilled the coffee?" - He repeated, his voice filled with sarcasm. "And surely you couldn't change clothes faster so as not to disrupt my lecture?"

Jungkook tilted his head slightly to the side, his lips curling into a slight smile that looked more like a challenge.

"I'm afraid, Professor, I can't anticipate such cases." - His tone was calm, but you could feel the tension in the room rising. The professor sighed, obviously trying to hold back.

"Okay. Next time, Mr. Jungkook, make sure you don't pour coffee on yourself before my lectures." - He said, turning sharply to the audience. "And find a seat." - Jungkook nodded, but he suddenly leaned down to your ear in what was only a split second.

"Looks like you helped me with my excuse a little bit." - He whispered. His words caused you to experience a wave of mixed emotions, from surprise to indignation. You turned sharply to him, but he had already passed by, throwing you a half-smile.

"Y/N, you should also find a seat." - The professor's voice made you come to your senses. You quickly nodded and headed for an empty seat, feeling the stares of your classmates. Jungkook, as usual, took a seat at the back of the classroom, leaning back comfortably on his chair. You sat down next to your friend Miyon, who was worried about you.

The professor flipped through his lecture materials and exhaled nervously, getting ready to continue.

"So..." - He began again. "In three weeks we have an exam. But in order to pass it well, you have to pass all the practical tasks and complete the pre-exam project." - A wave of dissatisfaction spread through the classroom. You pull out your notebook from your bag and make notes for the upcoming project.

The professor continues. "The grade for this work will affect the grade for the midterm exam. So you should do your best. In addition, it will be a pair project, and at the end of the lecture I will assign you to pairs according to the number of points for the practical assignments for the course." - You heard whispers in the classroom again, and you were not very happy with this decision either. Because you would have liked to be paired with a some easier, Miyon if say exactly, but the odds are just one in sixty.

"It would be great if we were paired." - Miyon whispers to you as if reading your mind. You just nod in the affirmative, listening to the professor. He explains that the project will have two parts: a theoretical part - students will have to answer questions related to a topic of their choice - and a practical part - each student will have to create a concept for their own installation and present it in the form of a sketch or 3D model with an explanation. He also announces that he gives two weeks to complete the assignment.

For the rest of the lecture, Professor Park announces the topics for the project and briefly explains what they are. You make notes for each topic because you don't know what you might get. When the lesson comes to an end, the professor has to divide the two groups into pairs.

"...You have to tell me the topic of your project on Monday, you will have two whole days off to think about it. The topics will be repeated, so I require at least 80% originality. Now let's move on to the announcement of the pairs." - You were determined. You knew you could handle the project. The main thing is that you have a good partner. Of course, it is desirable that it was your friend Miyon.

Unfortunately, your friend is paired with Heran. She sighs in disappointment and you try to cheer her up.

"Y/N Turner..." - You hear your name and tensely turn to the professor. He looks at the list and makes a note. "You'll be paired with Jeon Jungkook." - Your heart drops to your heels. You freeze with your mouth open. Everyone around you is buzzing. You don't know why, because maybe everyone wanted to be paired with him. Everyone except you. Because you couldn't even imagine being paired with him for a project.

Jungkook, who had been dozing on his desk the whole time, stirred and looked up with interest. When he heard that he was going to be paired with you, he immediately looked at you. He could only see your tense body.

And he could not imagine your expression. He smiled slightly. What a gift of fate, now he doesn't even have to hit on you. But he didn't expect you to raise your hand and interrupt the professor who continued to assign students to pairs.

"Excuse me, professor, can I choose another partner?" - You ask. Jungkook laughs when she hears you ask. You so intrigued. Doesn't she want to work with him? That's absurd, everyone in this classroom would love to be his partner, but you're asking him to switch? Just laugh and that’s it. The professor raises his eyebrows and looks at you over the top of his glasses. He nervously takes them off and answers you.

"Dear Y/N. I'm assigning pairs based on your final grades for the practicals. Since you have a high score and Mr. Jeon has a low score because he hasn't turned in most of his assignments, you have to do the project together so that he can pass before the exam." - You grimace, because the professor's words are meaningless. Jungkook doesn't need to turn in any assignments to pass to the next class, and everyone knows it.

"But..." - You want to protest, but Professor Park interrupts you.

"Dear, you cannot choose another partner because I have already assigned you. If I wanted you to choose a partner, I would have let all the students do it. So please, I'm waiting for your and Jungkook's choice of topic on Monday." - The professor cut off and you silently turned away.

You scribbled indignantly in your notebook. It seemed unbelievable. He's talented and popular, of course, but how can you work on a project with him? The thought of him being your partner made you feel a little anxious.

Thoughts kept spinning like a wheel in your head. Jungkook was not just a classmate - he was at the center of everything that was happening at the university, with that group of "Bulletproofs", and his reputation was far from what any student would want. And why did you have to be with him? It was so annoying!

As soon as the professor finished announcing the pairs and everyone started to gather their things, Jungkook suddenly walked over to your desk. You looked up and noticed that his expression had become much more serious. A short silence passed between you. Miyon, who had been waiting for you, nervously greeted Jungkook. He nodded a meek "hello" to her and returned his gaze to you.

"You really wanted to change partner, Y/N? Did I’m that horrible?" - He asks leaning on the desk next to yours.

You shrugged slightly, trying not to let on how much this situation was stressing you out. Jungkook's gaze was attentive, and his words were tinged with irony. You stood up, throwing your backpack over your shoulder and looking at him carefully.

"It's nothing personal. I just want to pass the project with a good grade. Your reputation is not the best." - You said casually. Jungkook laughed, but his laugh wasn't angry or mocking, rather light, even a little relaxed. It was striking because his usually cold expression changed back to a more relaxed one.

"You're jumping to such hasty conclusions. What makes you think I might be the reason for your bad grade?" - He asks without taking his eyes off you. You tower over him, but you know that Jungkook is in complete control of the situation.

"I'm drawing my conclusions based on the facts." - You answer and walk out of the room. Miyon follows you out. Jungkook follows you with his eyes until your figure disappears from view. He bites his lip and feels something inside him twist. Are you trying to get his attention or are you really that buzzkill?

You're sitting at a table in a coffee shop near the university, clutching a folder of materials that has blurry coffee stains. You were waiting for Miyon to go place your order so you could eat before the next class.

Your thoughts were interrupted by loud laughter from the next table. You looked up. A few meters away, a group of young men were sitting. One of them immediately caught your eye. Dark hair, carelessly disheveled, a twinkle in his eye, and a smile that seemed too perfect to be real.

Jungkook. He came here when you were already sitting at the table. He and his company chose the table next to him because he was big and could accommodate all of them. Jungkook didn't even give you a glance when he landed nearby. He obviously never looks around, why would he do that. He's the one who has to be paid attention to.

Jungkook was the center of attention, as always. And even among the “Bulletproof” guys, he stood out the most. He had a lip piercing and a tattoo on his arm, which is not visible now because he was wearing a black sweatshirt over his T-shirt. His muscular body was clearly visible even under all the clothes he wore.

Girls were easily attracted to his appearance and you understood why. You thought he was handsome because it was obvious. Girls like these guys, charismatic with a touch of danger. Someone who can easily capture your feelings and make you want something forbidden.

Your friend Miyon, who had just returned with the order and diverted your attention from Jungkook, sat down next to you. She pursed her lips and served you your lunch. It was a chicken salad and a banana and berry smoothie.

"Just look at him. That Jeon Jungkook. I bet even your skepticism can't resist his charm. Everyone thinks you're lucky to be paired with him." - She said as she put a few lettuce leaves in her mouth. You grimaced. And picked up the chopsticks.

"I would have gladly switched with anyone. You heard me ask." - You said as you stirred the salad. Miyon smiled.

"You be careful. He's such a playboy. If he likes you, you'll be his captivate." - Your friend says. You give her a look full of skepticism.

"Don't be silly. Why should he like me... I'm not going to play these games. My main concern is to make the project." - You stir the salad and realize you're not really hungry. You take a sip of smoothie thinking it will be enough

"I don't know, the way he looks at you..." - Miyon says. You give her a look full of irritation.

"How did he look at me? We just talked for a minute!" - You say.

"Well, I saw him smiling at you. You could hear a hint of frivolity in his tone. You know, that lazy, low voice…" - Miyon says and you laugh. Not realizing that you've caught Jungkook's attention. He noticed you when he heard you laugh out loud. His gaze looks interested. He stared at you and couldn't understand why you caught his eye again. For the third time that day.

"Are you crazy? He was just talking." - You said.

"By the way, he spoke as if you knew him. I've never seen you interact with him before. You're not hiding anything, are you?" - Miyon asked. You tensed slightly. You weren't hiding anything. You really hadn't talked to him until today. And you just didn't have time to tell him about the coffee incident.

"What do I have to hide? I accidentally spilled coffee on him this morning. It was my first interaction with him. This idiot asked me if I was new." - You say, and Miyon oohs and aahs.

"You poured coffee on him?!" - She is horrified. You nod silently. Miyon wants to ask you how it happened, but her phone rings. She sees her boyfriend's name on the screen and excuse yourself to move away.

You drink your smoothie and feel someone look at you. When your eyes meet the Jungkook's, you feel like you're getting an electric shock. But you don't show it. You stare at each other for a long half minute, not wanting to give in. You think that if you look away, he will feel your weakness before him.

But Jungkook reads your challenge in his eyes in his own way. He gets up from the table and throws something to his friends. He walks in your direction and you panic. God, you should have looked away, that's why he's coming to you.

Jungkook walks over to your table and grabs the back of a chair that was standing not far from you. He sits down next to you, almost touching your thigh with his knees. He has a sly smile on his face, and you can see it in his peripheral vision.

"May I sit down?" - He asks. You glance at him, showing him your disgust as much as possible. But his smile sets your insides on fire. You wonder how you can be interested in him. It's probably because of his looks.

"Why do you ask when you've already sat down?" - You answer the question with a question. Jungkook laughs, tilting his head slightly, his gaze piercingly fixed on you, and you feel his presence increasing your tension even more.

"I'm being polite." - He says. You glare at him. The corner of his mouth tightens and you see the dimples in his cheeks.

"Who needs your politeness?" - You ask indifferently. Jungkook is amused by your behavior. You're unconsciously piquing his interest in you.

"Wow, why is such a nice girl so tactless?" - He asks. You try not to roll your eyes.

"What do you want? Why did you sit down here?" - You ignore Jungkook's question, trying to figure out the reason for his presence. He gives you a half-smile.

"I should have discussed with you how you're going to undo the damage you did this morning." - Jungkook says, leaning in slightly. The gesture makes you unconsciously strong grab glass of the smoothie.

"I offered to pay for dry cleaning." - You remind him. Jungkook blinks lazily, looking at your face. As you speak, he thinks about how beautiful you are.

"I'm not interested." - Jungkook replies sharply. You frown. You don't like his tone.

"What are you interested in? Do I have to wash it myself or what?" - You ask rudely. Jungkook bursts out laughing. He is amused by your behavior.

"Can you do it?" - He asks. You set the smoothie on the table, and the sound of glass.

"Tell me what you want for your ruined sweatshirt and go away." - You say irritably. Jungkook feels the pleasure of your irritated voice. He is attracted to your irritation and it makes him even more interested in you.

"Are you always this impatient?" - He asks, leaning closer, keeping his eyes on your face. You try not to react to his closeness, but you feel your heart beating faster. He laughs again, his voice low and a little cocky. "In bed too?"

Your eyes instantly meet his, and you stare at him fiercely, a fire burning inside you. Jungkook leans in even closer, and you feel his warm breath tickle your skin. Your heart starts to beat faster, and you can barely hear his words. His smile becomes even more playful, but it can't hide the anxiety you feel.

"What?" - You barely manage to say, not recognizing your own voice. Several thoughts are running through your head at once, from the urge to push him away to the unknown desire to leave it at that and dive into this game.

Jungkook, as always, watches you with perfect calmness, but you can see something in his eyes that completely disorients you.

"In bed?" - He repeats again, his voice subtly intertwining with your thoughts, touching the deepest points of your emotional state.

You try to collect your thoughts, but his questions and presence put you in a quandary. What to say? How can you not show him how much these words have touched your weakest strings? You look at his face, at his sparkling eyes, and instantly feel the gravity of the situation.

"Hey, Jeon, you're playing with fire. You better not do that." - You say, trying to look away. But he doesn't give you a chance - Jungkook doesn't back down, he just gets closer.

"Maybe I should?" - His words sound like a challenge that you just can't ignore.

The tension in the air becomes almost physical, and you can feel your body reacting to his presence. You can feel your skin pulsing with tension and your heart literally leaping out of your chest as his hand involuntarily touches your hand on the table. "I can't believe you don't want to try it..." - He says quietly, his voice warm and slightly husky, as if he's not only asking, but also seducing.

You feel his words subconsciously pulling you into his web. At first you try to look away, but you can't. The answer he's looking for fills your brain, but you're not ready to say it. You know he's waiting for your weakest moment, your insecurity. And, damn it, you can feel him starting to win this game.

You pull your hand out, trying to maintain your dignity, but he doesn't even move, staying at a distance where there is still enough space between you for those electric pulses that arise between you every time he gets closer.

But suddenly, his gaze shifts to the side, and you notice him glancing over your shoulder unobtrusively. It doesn't seem like anything important until his expression changes - he seems to become more attentive, focused, and even a little distant.

Before you have time to react, Jungkook stands up from his chair, keeping his eyes on your face. You catch his eyes again, his movements clear and calm, like a man who knows what he wants.

"We'll talk tomorrow." - He says, and his voice sounds suddenly serious, almost hard, as if he's decided it's time to end this game. He leans forward, as if for a moment he wants to plunge you back into that tension, but then quickly pulls back. "About your debt. And, of course, about the project. I’ll text you." - He adds, taking one last look at your face, and again trying not to show how interested he really is in your answer.

You understand what he means. It's about a debt - a ruined sweatshirt, and a topic for your joint project.

But while you're still trying to process everything, he turns and leaves without another word. His back is moving away, and you hear his footsteps fade away, leaving you with only a moment to think.

You glance at his friends, but you notice Miyon returning to the table, her movements confident, and she has no doubt that everything is fine. And yet, even though he's gone, you can't shake the feeling that your meetings will be a challenge.

☰ Index 𓏧 ❘ Next chapter ⎘

[christiansorrell]

TTRPG Read-Through: Patchwork World

Here is a read-through I did last year (originally posted on Twitter) of one of the most unique PbtA games I've ever read: Patchwork World by Aaron King! - Christian

Credits up first. I know a lot of these folks and they are really cool! Excited to dig into this. I've heard good things, and it's been a while since I've read or played any Powered by the Apocalypse.

This is a cool, strong set up for me. I really like settings that ask characters to face a changing world and either take up change themselves or work to restore the old way of things. It's a headspace I find myself in a lot IRL these days so it's fun to explore.

I'm interested to see how the no stats, no playbooks angle of this game works, considering playbooks are typically such a staple of PbtA games.

Standard three-tired success, mixed success, fail forward resolution for rolls here and questions on the moves determine your bonus to the roll. Easy peasy. +2 is the max bonus.

Other types of rolls are described here. Interested to see how they come into play. I also love clocks and use them in pretty much every game I run so it's nice to see those laid out here too.

We just love a lil guy, don't we folks?

A good chunk of the opening here is spent on laying out a lot of solid foundations of roleplaying generally. It feels like a book (so far) that would work for entirely new players. It doesn't feel essential for me, but I never mind a game that supports varied experience levels.

Character creation is wide open, especially since there aren't playbooks and the text stresses that character creation is very much worldbuilding because of this. Fate-like concepts and tags are in here too which are things I generally enjoy. I like the Drawback mechanic.

Moves are in the playback I set in the other room so I'm gonna go grab those. You get two chosen moves and everyone has access to a number of default moves. You've got three other life/XP things to keep track of too. I'm especially interested in Hex.

There are a lot of moves! They seem quite varied and often very weird, fitting well with the titular patchwork world. You can have a duck's slick soul to dodge more easily or a magical space suit or speak to birds or be good at cartography. Overwhelming, but in an exciting way.

You also choose a community as a party. While PCs all have their original homelands (before the end of the old worlds), you know have a community that gets its own little sheet. This is a cool reshaping of the Gangs from Blades. I also like how the community can change over time.

Coming back to a PbtA game after months of more OSR-minded stuff, I think a lot of what these games contain are things that experienced players would say you could just do in any game at any time that it makes sense in the story, but I do find value in stating what's possible.

Esp since many players come to games with artificial limits on their options (whether that's from video games, more traditional RPGs, etc.). I just think good GMing here requires making sure that the players don't limit themselves just to the bevy of explicit options either.

GM moves (mostly to guide the response to failed rolls). I really think the community aspect of this set up is one of the biggest appeals to me so far. That and the wild list of moves, which I'm sure makes for amazing parties of characters.

I always feel like it's never something I should be in my own writing (for some probably unnecessary reason), but I enjoy the first-person, casual writing style throughout the book. Makes for a very chill read.

Good to see this game employs the Branson Reese style of NPC naming.

Stress acts as a single catch-all health and challenge rating for NPCs. Ideally, I'd hope this would help lead to the PCs approaching encounters with more than just violence.

Sections like this are what I'm referring to when I say this book feels very friendly to new players. It's got little anecdotes and thoughts like this throughout.

Look, it's been a while since I've seen A Christmas Story but... it didn't have ghosts in it right?

There's a sample adventure in the back (which I'll skip for this read-through) plus loads of random tables. Some wonderfully bizarre stuff in the characters and faction tables. Really gives you a good idea for how gonzo you can go with the setting.

Love these two in particular

Optional rules include hard mode (which I just think is kind of funny to see in PbtA, but could be cool if you lean heavy into the post-apoc setting) and some optional moves. I like that some moves focus on romance, something I enjoy IRL but never think to focus on in games.

I was wondering why this was the sixth edition!

That's all for the book itself. Going back to the packet to dig into the things I missed. Some expected bits in here but always one or two unique options I really enjoy. Leaking hex is cool (and could have some troubling cascade effects in certain situations).

I definitely wish, at least in sitting down to read like this, that the contents of the player packet was also in the book itself. I think PbtA has this tendency of leading to loads of pages on the table, but it can make them very easy to pick up and play or to learn as you play.

That element is definitely here, but I think the vast number of wide-ranging moves and the excitement that would drum up in my player group would more than makeup for that initial overwhelming feel of "whoa, that's a lot of papers out on the table".

Overall, it's the most I've wanted to play a game in this style in a while. I like that the base setup for the world is very much up to the players to determine via the characters they make. I like that PCs here will probably feel unlike any other folks have played before.

The community aspect feels like where I'd want to center my story around, as a player. Seeing that shift and change over time feels like it would be very rewarding and would help lean into the "the old world is dead, what do we want the new world to look like?" theme I enjoy.

Because Aaron King is cool and recently hit a lot of Twitter followers, Patchwork Worlds is now Pay-what-you-want over on Itch.

I'm not sure if physical copies are readily available. For full disclosure (guess I should have said this up front), I got this copy for free from Aaron! Not for the purposes of this thread or anything, just for fun a while back.

Thanks for reading more ramblings from me! If you like to do that sort of thing, check out my newsletter - Missives from the MeatCastle. It's got writings on my work, cool stuff I've run across the web in the last month, and exclusive rpg stuff! https://meatcastle.substack.com

[thegrimreaperisanerd]

hi :) binge read your de fic that you have posted on ao3 last night and really enjoyed all of it! excited to see any updates. was wondering if you have any rec for other fic youve read and enjoyed-- i am not god's bravest soldier and do not enjoy trudging through tags and was wondering if you had read anything yourself that you really enjoyed lolol

Hey, thanks so much!!! Sorry it's taken a couple days to answer this, I'm poor as shit and have two jobs now wah... capitilism...

I'm working on the next 46' chapter, It's about 70% complete and I generally let it sit for an evening once it's done then re-read it the next day to catch the vast majority of mistakes (I edit everything myself) so I'd say expect that in the coming days.

I have some thoughts! I... Have never been asked for fic recs before so I'm gonna list a bunch in no particular order that I enjoyed, and reasons why. I will note that I tend to enjoy meaty plot-based works over fluff, so that's what I'll be recommending. Anyway!

Paddling Out (THE REPEATER CORPSE CONUNDRUM) - @transhitman - So this is the first DE fic I read and it set the bar pretty fucking high. YOU'VE GOT: a very cool and insular setting (don't get me wrong I like fics where they travel around Revachol too, but there's something to be said for building a set and living in it for a while) YOU'VE GOT: extremely harrowing tension and pale-fuckery YOU'VE GOT: some genuinely beautiful, heartfelt moments (I don't want to spoil anything but "people don't need your permission to care about you" kinda undid me) YOU'VE ALSO GOT: Amazing art?! Always a bonus, I wish I could draw people lol

Have You Heard The News That You're Dead? - Wizardlover - Time Loop shenanigans hell yeah! Basic premise: Kim is *unable* to save Harry's life after he's shot at the tribunal, each time he dies he Reawakens in Martinaise on the first day and desperately has to try and find a way to either prevent the Tribunal entirely, or survive it. I think the major draw to this one is how well it's characterised and how well that lends to the major source of tension: trying to convince THE WORLD'S BIGGEST SKEPTIC that you *a man he 'has only just met'* is actually stuck in a time loop. Juicy shit.

The Case Of The Man Who Two-Thirds Wasn't There - @glisteningceruleaneyes - We got another case fic here, gang. This is one of those "they travel around Revachol" numbers I previously mentioned. A lot to love about this fic; the minor OCs are all loveable (or at least well-written, looking at you Mr. Bigot-All-Rounder), the elements of writing in the game's style (particularly use of Harry's 'to do' list that you find in the ledger, you don't see that as often!) are all fantastic. Also without spoiling too much I'm a sucker for hurt/ comfort :) I like when bad things happen to our specialist guy :) ALSO! alternating chapters, Kim vs Harry's perspectives contrast REALLY well! Just a super enjoyable read. - On that note I also wanna include a special mention: there's a podfic for this one and since I mentioned my two jobs, I've been listening to audiobooks at work (I'm a cleaner. It's very boring) and that was a fun change of pace!

The Emergent Causeway - hal_incandenza - Now you KNOW this one is good because it's the only *unfinished* fic I'm recommending. Again, We've got art! We've got a brand new (non-Revachol!) setting that still feels excellently Elysium! We got that excellent balance of humour and misery from the get go! EXCELLENT murder mystery so far, I am intrigued AND also there's a fucking puppy. Hell yeah. This one's from Kim's perspective and does a really good job of it, nothing like a man being begrudgingly sent on holiday and being somewhat relieved to have a corpse to deal with.

A Spilled Kaleidoscope - @spilledkaleidoscope - I'm actually recommending a series here. Real definition of "came for the art, stayed for the writing" I mostly have a soft spot because I got to watch a few "haha, what if-?" musing text posts become a series of written chapters and INCREDIBLE DRAWINGS HOLY SHIT. Like, you really just draw hands for fun, huh? This person made a pact with some sort of devil beasts to draw hands very good, at the bare minimum we can read their fiction.

Nothing To Lose But Our Chains - Lepak - I almost forgot this one and I honestly can't believe it because this is one of these ones that you need a cigarette afterwards. Good fucking god. This is probably the best fic I've ever read in terms of not shying away from the heavy themes that make Disco Elysium such a beautiful, moving game. It tackles a racism in many forms, particularly how people like Kim (in working for the RCM) and immigration laws do their part in upholding racist systems, despite the way it hurts him too. Of course, it's also excellently written with tense scenes and some real funny moments. A real good'un here.

The Catacomb Killer - SupposedToBeWriting - Give Harry more memory loss. Make him convinced he killed a kid. Make *Kim* convinced he killed a kid... Then the plot thickens. I won't lie I can't remember fuck all about this one because I was mostly drunk when I read it, but if it was good enough that I kept reading instead of smoking a spliff or something then it must have been excellent... I will re-read it when I have the time, lmao.

MURDER ON THE AIRWAVES - @randomisedmongoose - I'm just a really big fan of murder mysteries and gore. You show me somebody with brain matter pouring from their earholes and I'm like "yum yum, more of that please." I am a sucker for curious methods of murder and this one's good for that. Lots of trekking back and forth like in the game again. More ACAB - always good.

I did not mean to include this many...........................

Oh well. Here's my list, there are plenty of others I've enjoyed but these are just the ones that came to mind! Thanks again for reading my fic! Always makes me happy when people let me know they enjoy my writing :3

[drrr-emporium]

What to do if Durarara over

I'm going to assume you've finished the anime and have not gone into anything else Naritaverse wise

So! You can read the novels. Since they're officially licensed by yen press, you can buy the soft cover books or get them as an ebook / kindle from barnes and noble or amazon. I don't really endorse this but I'm sure if you do enough digging around you can find old, still available, free translations like anni_fiesta who did a lot of translating back in the day. Here's the link to their Index of Translation. I still use it since it's the only place I know that has the white day story translated and it's one of my favorites (For Kadota Related reasons haha), plus a couple of other side stories.

(I think the internet archives have the novels if you do some poking around but for Narita Please Write SH 5 reasons, I'll ask you to dig those up lmao)

Speaking of Side stories, Kazinha-726 translated a bunch of drrr side stories But since they haven't updated in a while, you need to change the links from kaedesan721 to their new URL kazinha-726. I'll directly link what you need here

Izaya Spin Off Translations I don't think these are officially licensed for translation so it's fine for me to link. This is the story of Izaya now that he's been forced out of Ikebukuro, and there's two books as of writing this.

Durarara Gaidens It's some gaidens, but It's also a handful of translated convos from 3 way stand of alley relay, the links use that kaedesan721 link, so while I won't be fixing all those links for you, I can at least link the tag for all of them here. you can probably find audio for this game on youtube, though I'm not sure anyone's like.... fully translated? perhaps? Which ALSO reminds me of the relay manga

Durarara Epitome of Eighteen Histories Written along side the release of season 2, we've got some stories involving Kazane Kinomiya, who's the half sister of Shinra, and a reporter. They have all 18 listed there nicely EXCEPT the Erika and Walker Link is a little messed up, and if you search through the posts you can get to it but anyway here's the link to that story specifically

DRRR x Hakata Tonkatsu Ramens Actually I haven't seen HTR or read it so I can't really tell you about this one but if you're into that series--

There's ALSO MiniDura which are little gag comics of the durarara cast in chibis! there should be 4 books as of me writing this. Godspeed on finding translations they seem to be around.... but this post is long and I'm scared of losing it so I'll update later on how many chapters there are so you don't miss any, though I'm seeing up to 10 in my cursory search.

Shizuo, Izaya, and Celty are also in uh.... Dengeki Bunko's fighting Climax, which you might be able to find some stuff on on youtube. but since it's Dengeki Bunko you also have other series... I can only remember A Certain Magical Index / A Certain Scientific Railgun / the other titles in this series as being part of it whoops.

So you've done all that, what do you do next?

Well Narita has other series, like Baccano! which had an anime before DRRR did, which is 16 episodes. Since Funimation lost the license back in like... 2012 it's not officially uh licensed for viewing anywhere, so uh. wink wink. message me if you need more help here.

There's ALSO the novels which... there are so many more than there are for drrr, also available to purchase, though these are hardcovers! Last time I checked they had.... around 20 translated? Since I'm more drrr side I'd have to ask about fan translations and if I can still find them around. But again I don't really condone it since we want more written you know?

Narita also has a couple other series, but the one that's my favorite besides DRRR is Etsusa Bridge (It's pronounced Essa Bridge don't make the same mistake I did. )

And i NEED more people to read that one please please please please

Unfortunately, the person who did the fan translation closed their Blogspot to the public so uh. the first 4 books, and really what is the main story, is available on the internet archive here

Though I'm saying thank you to baka-tsuki for my life by having a page of links here, which includes the 5th book, 5656 part two (NARITA..... I NEED 5656 PART 2 PLEASE...... PLEASE)

and Vamp on the internet archive here and baka-tsuki here

I also know about Hariyama-san but i don't actually know... if anyone translated that one..... Narita has also written for Bleach and Fate Strange/ Fake if you're into those. Straight up just linking this wiki page in case you have any interest in other stuff he's written

And finally! Currently, Dead Mount Death Play (often shortened to DMDP) is a manga written (or co written?) by Narita! which is currently getting an anime and all of his attention.

All that being said I've been really into Trigun lately lmao

Anyone else feel free to add on or tell me what I may be missing

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Bingo tag game

Thanks @oh-no-another-idea here, @illarian-rambling here, @melpomene-grey here, and @mk-writes-stuff here.

I got three different types here--

Rules 1: use this link, which will generate a writing bingo card for you!

Rules 2: use this link to create a Bingo card for your WIP and/or fill out the one the person who tagged you made

Rules 3: same as 2 but with an OC

Last Bingo Game: here

TSP Bingo (blank card)

Long Bingo where I did a blank Bingo for SOTL and Carla and filled in Bingos for Kelsey, Maddie, Noelle, Xitlali, and TSP as a whole

Tagging @gracehosborn @theeccentricraven @theelfauthor @dyrewrites @badluck990 @mysticstarlightduck @elsie-writes @little-peril-stories @loopyhoopywrites @bread-roses-and-chrome

Below cut:

Filled in writer bingo for me

Filled in WIP bingo for SOTL

Filled in OC bingo for Hye-Jin

Filled in OC bingo for Alex

Filled in OC bingo for Gretel

Filled in OC bingo for Jack

Blank bingo for IWAJAD

Blank bingo for Lexi

Version 1: Writer Bingo

[image ID in alt text]

Almost got a bingo noooo

If only I read more!! It's not by choice...

Version 2: WIP Bingo

SOTL

[image ID in alt text]

Red for definitely, yellow for maybe.

Damn no bingo, even with the yellow.

I'd have a Bingo if I included more evil fish people but I have incorporated it yet. So I do have a Bingo if that's the case.

Version 3: OC Bingo

Hye-Jin Song (TSP)

[image ID in alt text]

Bingo! Almost got two since she was originally short but I've changed that

A character I don't talk about nearly enough! I don't have any other posts exclusively about her yet :(

Hye-Jin is Lexi's lifelong friend who does not make an onscreen appearance until Part Two, though she does get a couple shout-outs in Part One.

Hye-Jin has a younger sibling, but I didn't highlight cause I'm pretty sure it meant she *is* one.

Alex Vaughn (TSP)

[image ID in alt text]

I think she's just appeared in excerpts. Time to fix that!

Alex is from another universe! A chronological deviant of the duoverse of the Ceteri and Alium that we know! (In other words - it's another version of Ceteri and Alium, the duoverse, i.e. two linked universes, that's different enough due to different choices individuals made)

Gretel Küchler (SOTL)

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I may have mentioned her like once, but she was the only one who'd fill out a decent amount of the board.

Gretel is kind of obviously my Hansel and Gretel character. She's magicked, meaning she learned the skill of magic. She and her identical twin brother Hansel specialize in baking food that can help grant others temporary physical advancements.

If anyone of these end up changing and being inaccurate...I'll live it's okay I haven't written a scene with her.

Jack McDonald (SOTL)

[image ID in alt text]

Haha, bingo!!

De facto MC of SOTL so far. He's appeared a lot in SOTL's excerpts.

Jack was misdiagnosed as being gifted with ice manipulation powers, due to one obvious demonstration. In actuality, he's gifted in being average at everything. This does mean he actually can do literally everything, just averagely. (In other words, Jack of all Trades)

He's not autistic as of yet but probably ADHD. Some of these may change.

My Blank Bingos

It Was All Just a Dream

I already made Bingos for my active WIPs, so here we go with this one

[image ID in alt text]

It Was All Just a Dream is a story idea have had for a while that I have a draft of in the form of a short story. Short version is popular Kyla Tran goes through a night of layers of dreams that force her to reevaluate her life.

Lexi Morgan (TSP)

[image ID in alt text]

I meant ace/aro and you KNOW IT

And ignore that I spelled pedestal wrong as well...

Anyway, more Lexi: OC in fifteen, OC in three, Picrew, two truths and a lie, WIP questionnaire

TSP into

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

[wumblr]

tag game tagged by @rih-easy

last song: um i was listening to midlife chorus and doechii alligator bites in the car yesterday. midlife was on end of year lists and it was pretty good (doechii made my top ten, a couple posts back). today i've been sitting here in silence staring at the wall eating a pink orange i'm groggy i haven't made coffee yet

favorite color: i think my wardrobe is majority gray and black at this point but when i was a kid i used to say green

currently watching: did you guys know there was a meme movie called the chronicles of rick roll. well there wasn't. but i just watched a video essay about it by sarah z's script writer lady emily

currently reading: i have a little shelf of unfinished books and jodorowsky psychomagic is probably the most recently opened one. and that was like at the beginning of the year i do NOT read a lot of books unfortunately. i think most recently finished was l'engle short stories and that was also when i was doing a lot of air travel at the beginning of the year when my mom was in end of life care

last movie: hundreds of beaverrrrs. i thought my man would love it and while he was surprisingly attracted to the guy he progressively lost interest as more beavers died. we both agree it would have been funnier if the beavers were just attacking him apropos of nothing. not a movie where i wanted to watch the protagonist succeed. and yes, he's been begging me to grow my beard out ever since

sweet/savory/spicy: spicyyyy they don't make hot sauce hot enough for me and yes i mean at the hot sauce store. i would pull a lorde on hot ones. can somebody email me when they start running out of celebrity guests because i am available for booking

relationship status: well you see i'm dating this guy who's dating a guy...

current obsessions: umm. nuclear policy. sorry i never change. there's a new karen silkwood docuseries. i did not know she died in a car crash i thought she ate a polonium sandwich. every time i try to look her up it immediately devolves into chaos and i've apparently never retained any of the information. but did you know she's namedropped in the classic 1996 tori amos track, "horses"

last thing i googled: i do not have search history enabled but i'm pretty sure it was "rambutan" because they had an exotic fruit display at the grocery store and the word snuck into my brain. i did not buy any exotic fruits. you are what you eat and i'm chicken

this is bad form because it kills the tag game but usually what i do is say if you want to do this you can say i tagged you and i won't tell anyone. i don't like tagging people it's like paging them on the PA system at kmart like did you really need to do all that. like i don't mind being tagged but if you're getting tagged on my blog it's like a whole thing and you're about to get brigaded probably. @pizza

[battle-of-alberta]

Battle of Alberta 2023 Survey Results

It's that time again. Previous surveys can be found here for 2022, 2021 and 2020 for your reference.

We had 18 respondents to the survey. The average BoAB reader is female, around 24-25, and Canadian. Over half of respondents identified as Albertan, which is again increased from last year. Of those that have lived in Alberta, most of you have lived in Calgary followed by Edmonton, Lethbridge and Banff.

Read on for some graphs, notes, and responses...

Demographics

Much bigger proportion of men this year than last, howdy fellas! :)

I'm always meaning to extend the ages out a bit more than I have been, there's a very slight increase this year just based on averages from years previous. Curiously enough there is a very even split between those in the 19-30 rage this year that I don't typically see. As possible, it could just be that some of you are aging and reaching a new category.

A smaller category for international folks and a bigger category of North Americans than previously - I'm always worried whether I should focus more on making this blog more accessible to non-Canadians and I feel that I've been failing on that a lot, for which I apologize. Thanks for your patience!

The Albertan category continues to grow this year, and it's also worth noting that the "Never heard of it" category has disappeared this year. Well, I suppose those who hadn't last year have heard of it now? I hope. : );

Calgary has finally surpassed Edmonton in this ranking, which I suppose was only a matter of time as it is the more populous city. Can't believe all the Lethbians are moving to Calgary jk.

We have some more variation on travel this year as well, a couple of you cited Drumheller specifically and I believe one person mentioned Slave Lake as well. Naturally, the big cities and mountain parks are in the lead. And tsk tsk, no the Calgary airport doesn't count (though it is certainly Calgary flavoured in my recollection) :^)

Blog

Little change in the proportions here, just less of you admitting you know me which is fine :^)

Lots of shifting here with art steadily at the top. There's been a drop off in politics and stereotypes and a rise in not being alone in Hellberta, which I imagine might have been somewhat related to wanting to forget the election this year.

One of you mentioned not remembering following the blog - this might have been my error because I did reblog the survey to my other blogs since I'm in the habit of doing so. It's entirely possible you coincidentally followed one of my other blogs for something else but ended up inundated with the content on this blog anyway, since I tend to self-reblog quite liberally.

Illustrations beat out Asks for top spot this year, current events taking another hit. I'm glad you guys enjoyed Jasper's introduction and my travels so much! Someone also mentioned the timeline which was very kind, the only reason it wasn't on the survey was because I had already published the survey before the timeline!

I also realized for the second year in a row I don't really have a name for what one respondent described as "local flavour" posts that are directly inspired from my travels and day to day, and thus I don't exactly have a tag for it to make it easily findable. I will consider whether it needs a name and if I have a good one.

I also screwed up slightly and listed the Bison ask as the only one of its category rather than introducing "Parks Pass" as its own category, so this is something I'm going to reflect on for future surveys as well.

Historical events plummeted from the top spot this year in favour of gag comics, and again I definitely get the need for more lighthearted stuff as all these compounding crises are weighing on us. I feel like that's definitely a direction I've already been leaning in, even with those things that do relate to current or historical events.

(but yeah, I am still thinking about the otome game even though the pace is slower than molasses right now)

For other: there's still some interest in Special Powers and Cloud Minding there, so I will definitely consider how to continue them if possible even if it's not on the horizon right away.

This was a new question this year to replace "Projects". While I'm a little sad at the high number of you guys who use mobile only, I understand. I just feel frustrated because I learned how to make webcomics before mobile was a thing, and I still struggle with proportioning my comics for scrolling and legibility and I'm constantly worried that I'm doing something wrong (so of course I am always scrolling my own blog on my phone and nitpicking).

The other issue is that some pages of the blog including the vision, FAQ, etc. are inaccessible to android users (like myself) which is also annoying. But it's the way of the world and I can't fault anyone for it, I can just do my best to be aware of it and try to learn and make decisions accordingly.

Characters

Calvin stayed steady in the lead with the same number of votes, but I'm shocked and amazed to see Red making such gains this year! The rest of the votes were a little more egalitarian than last year, although sacrifices were made (poor Eleanor!)

I also want to note that there's no direct correlation between living in Calgary and voting for Calvin, interestingly enough.

Jasper's first year of life has left you all thirsty for more, I see. But uh, I really dug my own grave with Sherwood Park as my joke answer, hey...? I guess you will have to meet Marion soon enough (which means I have to actually picture what she looks like and put that on paper instead of just drawing the Eye of Sauron)

Eleanor, the Paranormal Squad and the Nyo! characters are climbing up this year as well.

Someone actually suggested other towns such as Vegreville, which made me chuckle a little. As I've said previously, my goal is not to create as many characters as possible but to focus on developing the ones I have in front of me, and I'm not interested in personifying any more small towns at this time. That said if I had to pick a design for Vegreville...

why not this guy? :^)

I'm not picky though, they could be a lady too.

lol.

The magpies won this year, hooray! I will put out some extra peanuts for them from you guys.

Comments

Now to address some of the comments...

Let's start with the recommendations! Thank you so much for your suggestions, I hope you don't mind me sharing so we can all take advantage. They're all new to me, so I'd like to check them out as soon as I'm able :)

In terms of artists, I'll put in a recommendation for Amelie Patterson! She's an alt-pop singer/songwriter from Banff. I don't know if she fits the "vibe" of Eleanor necessarily, but she definitely has some good songs! I assume you're probably aware of the documentarian Dan Olson (https://youtube.com/@FoldingIdeas) but if not, he's made an eclectic mix of video essays with rather good quality behind them! :D visit Chunk'd in Calgary (it's in Kensington), they sell kinda expensive but absolutely life-changing cookies Have you ever visited Fort McMurray?

To answer this last one directly, no, not yet: I'm waiting a bit on that one because apart from Northern Alberta being constantly on fire during travel season lately, we are hoping for some progress on Highway 686 between Fort Mac and GP to make the Northern Alberta trip a little easier. Also hoping to save up some money so pals from up north can show me around a bit too :)

---

The lack of an Unknown-N/A mark for opinion makes it less welcoming. I was shared a link to your blog, and yet, I didn't see an easy to read pinned "What to Expect / About… et cetera" so I don't know if I want to follow or block - that's much more in depth.

I'm going to be real with you, though I have no idea if you have any intention of reading my response or not or if you have already moved on, this response is somewhat unprecedented for me and I would be lying if I said it didn't keep me awake at night for a bit.

I'll set aside my bruised ego for a moment just to thank you for making me aware of some of my own blind spots and assumptions. Though it is not explicit and in fact I might have even been unintentionally misleading when I advertised this survey, I assume a certain level of familiarity with or at least curiosity about my work for survey respondents. However, there is no requirement to fill it out, regardless of whether you can answer the questions or not. It never occurred to me for this to be intended as a 'welcome' survey for visitors or potential readers, but more of a year in review.

I can't make any comment on who sent you my blog or why, but I do feel somewhat on the defensive from your response. Not only do I have a pinned post that links to more in depth about pages, but one of my main projects this year was to revamp it to be more accessible and easy to read than previously, so I can't help but feel a little stung that either it was not findable or not easy to read for you.

I'm not in the habit of self-marketing to complete strangers and I've racked my brains trying to come up with an alternative explanation for this amorphous thing that I've been building these past few years, but the choice between "follow or block" rather than "follow or leave" sounds to me like something I cannot resolve in my response beyond the following, and I apologize if this comes across as rude:

If you're not into weird drawings of anime twinks with varying levels of homoerotic tension that just happen to represent personifications of cities in this weird, beautiful, frustrating province and my own evolving understandings of them as both characters and as places, maybe this blog isn't for you. It's one part idealised vision, one part shenanigans, and one part coping mechanism. Maybe someone else could describe it better from the outside (lord knows as an ask blog, a great deal of the blog is somewhat dependent on reader contributions).

If you're looking for a bumper sticker that would encapsulate enough of my political views to decide whether to block me, you'd have to drive pretty close to read the paragraph starting with "well i absolutely voted for notley because i'm willing to settle for what amounts to a centre right pro-pipeline party if it means a snowball's chance in hell of avoiding certain death from the bigots and conspiracy theorists continuing to flock to what passes for the conservatives these days... etc etc", well, there it is and certainly there is a queer, satirical bent to political views espoused on this blog, though I try to think of it as a "break from the bullshit" because otherwise I wouldn't get out of bed let alone pick up my pen.

I can't provide much more than this in terms of "what to expect" because, as the survey indicates, the blog is always changing according to my time, energy, and mindset and who the heckaroonie i think I'm speaking to at any given time. If you stuck around long enough to read this, thanks.

---

the parliament of magpies would have won if they'd ACTUALLY BEEN THERE.

I try to keep results as anonymous as possible but Maybe If You Came Over at a Different Time that isn't Balding Season they wouldn't be so shy! :)

you're good

Let's end on this one, thank you :) and thank you all for responding this year, I hope things can look up for us a little in the new year despite all the political bullshit, the cost of living and the goddamn constant fires. I learned a lot this year and was able to travel a lot too, and I hope I can continue drawing inspiration from this silly project for a while yet.

See you, Space Cowboys.

[milkmaidovich]

✨Tag Game Tuesday✨

Thanks for the tags @transmickey @metalheadmickey @heymrspatel @such-a-barbarian!

name: kat

age: newly 33

how many hours of sleep did you get last night? 7? Which is pretty good cause the ADHD related insomnia has been real bad recently

which do you use more: tumblr mobile or desktop? Mobile, always. Since I got my very first Tumblr in 2009 it's always been mobile more than anything.

a hobby you’d like to pick up: sewing, I think. Or gardening?

if you were a crayon, what color would you be? Is pthalo green a crayon option? Seems like the crayons have so many colors now

what was your average screen time last week? Shhhhhhhhhhh we don't need to talk about this (am I reading fic AND watching a dimension20 campaign mostly on my phone? Who's to say)

a song you put on every playlist: not a specific song but you will always find a track by Arctic Monkeys on every playlist

something on your bucket list: palace tour of Versailles with my bff

you’re invited to a costume party, what are you dressing up as? OOOH hmmmmmm I could manage a Lost Boys style vampire with little prep if need be. If I had the time, probably Nadja from WWDITS

what show takes up the most space in your brain? It changes based on what I'm into atm (hyperfixation babeeeeyyyyy) but it's The Bear rn with shameless just running in the background, cause it knows I'm coming back lmao

and finally, share something you’re looking forward to: I have a big week in September with my bff and our dnd group! Our first in-person dnd session as an adventuring party, a ren faire, and three concerts in three cities (Arctic Monkeys twice and then Greta Van Fleet)! Last year bff and I spent 5 days in NYC around a HSLOT show so we're making this a September tradition

Tagging @harrowhark-a-vagrant @callivich @bawlbrayker @crossmydna @krystallouhoo & @depressedstressedlemonzest and anyone who wants to play!

[gyokujyn]

Get To Know Me Tag Game

Tagged by @blackwood4stucky - Aspen, thank you for the tag, but I am breaking all the rules and changing most of the some questions to really get to know me (and hopefully you)! Pretend I tagged you at the bottom, too, cause it won't let me tag you twice!

1. How did you get your nickname (or url)?

I don't really have a nickname, but my url is the first long term OC I used to RP back in the day. I see a lot of hate for RPing OCs these days, but when the internet still screamed at you before you could logon, almost everyone RPed OCs--in fact it was looked down on to RP an existing character or an OC that was related to an existing character. Gyoku Jynnae was a Star Trek OC, but I also RPed Star Wars, D&D, and a few others in AOL chat rooms, forums/message boards, and email. I keep the name in case I ever run into anyone from that time in my life because some of those people helped keep me alive and I'll never forget it.

2. What's the last thing that made you cry?

Therapy yesterday. I'm trying to be less allergic to feelings. Go me.

3. What's your latest guilty pleasure?

I generally don't feel guilty about the things that bring me pleasure, lol, but I'm a little embarrassed that I realized my Stucky playlist on Spotify has long since exceeded 200 songs (sitting pretty close to 230 rn) so I created, I shit you not, a spreadsheet to help me most effectively split it into more specific lists for various timeframes or feelings and I am really enjoying listening to all the songs and organizing it.

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

I never did organized sports, but I did regularly get dropped in the wilderness with a map and a compass for "fun" when I was in high school--does that count?

5. What are your pet peeves?

I hate the sound of chewing/lip smacking/swallowing. I probably have misophonia because it makes me want to vault the table and punch someone.

6. What is the first thing you notice about people?

Hair and hands, usually. Eye contact is not my forte, so I am way more likely to remember someone by their shoes or something than by their face.

7. What is your eye color?

Hazel. I have a ring of brown around my pupil, then a ring of green outside of that like some kind of ridiculous YA novel.

8. What super specific trope or genre is your kryptonite?

Not sure how super specific this is, but I love psychological horror and body horror. I love the kinds of stories and movies where I walk away thinking I'm moving on with my life and then days later, something happens and my heart is pounding and I'm thinking about it again. I love horror that lives under your skin and in the back of your mind until it grips you out of nowhere.

9. What is your superpower?

I am very observant of details, which might be a superpower, but it usually feels like my villain origin story. It makes me good at reading people, but terrible at finishing projects because all I see are the faults and I get overwhelmed and it never gets finished.

10. Which fictional world would you be happy to call home?

You remember that late-aughts Bruce Willis movie where everyone plugs into an interface that lets them leave their bodies at home and navigate the world in an idealized, customizable body with no pain? Yeah, me, neither. I don't think about being able to have a pain-free body that reflects my personal image of myself everyday. Not at all.

11. What are your hobbies?

Reading, creating art, and video games. Between kids and COVID, my other hobby, tabletop RPG, is on a long term hiatus.

12. Do you have any pets?

We've recently lost a dog and a cat, so we're down to 1 cat and about 27,000 fish (not really, but we do have 8 running fish tanks, 3 of which are each over 50 gallons, so, like, there's a lot of fish).

13. What is your biggest toxic trait?

Oh, man, when I am in a relationship with someone, I want to be the center of their fucking universe. Which is weird because I am not monogamous and I am my wife's number one wing man, but it's not about jealousy. I want to know that I can trust my partner to have my back. That they're thinking about me. That they want me. I want to be wanted desperately. I will and have broken up with partners who weren't bad people or a bad match for me, they just weren't as mad about me as I wanted them to be. I feel like a narcissist typing this out, but it's the truth.

14. Is there anything you're afraid you won't accomplish?

I don't know that this is really an accomplishment, but I always wanted to have lots of kids and I always wanted to foster and adopt some of my kids. I knew kids growing up that needed safe homes and never got them (I probably was one, but I was afraid to get into the system, so I just kept my head down and dealt with it) and I always wanted to be the safe place I never had. But, it's expensive. Not the kids--I know kids are expensive (I already have 2). I don't understand why fostering and adopting is so expensive.

15. What's number one on your bucket list?

I want to go back to school to become a teacher, but I'm really finding it daunting right now.

Tags: I'm just tagging a dozen recentish mutuals that I don't know so well, yet... no pressure, but I'd love to get to know you better! @winterscrump @basnatural @eloquentreverie @vellicore @milarca @the-kestrels-feather @iceandironbars @sarahowritesostucky @natashadied4oursins @thepiper0fhameln @hypnxrchy @shurisbedroom If I didn't tag you, but you want to play, please feel free to jump in and tag me anyway!

[outeremissary]

9 People You'd Like to Get to Know Better

Tagged by @turbulentpumpkin43. Thanks for thinking of me! I know I haven't been around much (for reasons we don't need to get into), but truly nothing summons me faster than the email notification about a tag game where I know I'm going to have to say something horribly embarrassing about myself.

Three Ships: I mean, if we're counting stuff with OCs then obviously anyone following my knows Balthazar and Tristian (and the wonderful polycule with Vio) is my number one. Aside from that, the latest volume of Witch Hat has fully converted me into an Agott/Coco true believer. I actually did like the Coco/Tarteh vibe but Agott's special brand of slowly changing rival just has me by the throat. Aside from that? Ummm. Elliot and Leo from Pandora Hearts? Does that count? I did my full reread of Pandora Hearts while afk in September and those two have had me since like 2012 or 2013 or whenever they were introduced in the English release. But now that I'm older and more mature I can better appreciate what the messy later arcs had to give, and that's the beauty of a relationship between equals corrupted by a growing imbalance no one has the strength to acknowledge and devotion so deep it tears both of their lives apart. That's awesome. 11/10, everyone read Pandora Hearts and I'm not even joking

First Ever Ship: Gamers, back in early 2012 when I was in middle school and could only see images on the computer at school because searching for anything visual online was mega bad for rural internet, a friend of mine used a science classroom computer to discover you could find non-canon images of The Legend of Zelda if you searched terms like "Link blue" and scrolled down a couple rows. I distinctly remember this as the first ever time I really understood the concept of "fan art," and more importantly as my entry into fandom as we all began to realize many of these came from the same site: a place called "DeviantArt." Some of these contained such salacious and unthinkable things as two boys holding hands and blushing, and also both of those boys were Link. I was so captivated by these mysterious images that I followed them to their Four Swords Adventures manga RP fandom source, where I am not proud to say the first "ship" I adopted as such was Vio (Violet Link for people who spent their time doing better things at thirteen) and Shadow (Shadow Link, of course). That's right, everyone! It was edgy Link selfcest yaoi between a traitor and an angsty villain all the way down!!! And you know what? When I write that I don't think my taste has changed. Except the selfcest. Mostly.

The other, more respectable first ship I remember not long after that was Ulquihime. What can I say, there's just something about the Stockholm syndrome of it all.

Last Song: No title - REOL. Narrowly missed this being edgy early Vocaloid. I've been revisiting old favorites recently.

Last Movie: I'm pretty sure it was Surf's Up. For whatever reason my friend decided we should rewatch it when I visited him a few weeks ago. Holds up better than it should, but I've rewatched it twice in little over a year and truly that is my Surf's Up limit. That trip was also when my friend forced me to watch Barbie and the D&D movie. Look at me catching up on relevant pop culture only for fucking Surf's Up to be what made this list.

Currently Reading: I'm pretty sure this came up last time, but because I haven't gotten started on a better book since then I'm unfortunately still periodically chipping at The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn. This book fucking sucks. Don't read it. If we could manga and stories that are actually good I recently did a Witch Hat Atelier reread after getting volume 11!!! That volume is. So painfully personal.

Currently Watching: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Jujutsu Kaisen season 2. JJK is with my friend for weekly hangout, but Edgerunners is a solo endeavor because it was bumming him out way too much. Good show though. Also JJK was way more of a bummer than expected in ways that caught me off guard??? I'm not getting over what happened to that girl, I really got fucking got by that scene. Jesus

Currently Consuming: Nothing. Just finished dinner, where I had a chicken sandwich and fries. I need groceries. It's dire.

Currently Craving: doing something creative, but that would require moving the giant zine pile on my chair........ this is how I'm procrastinating

I'm sorry, but I'm actually not tagging anyone on this tonight! I haven't been on enough lately to know who has or hasn't done it, and frankly I'm not ready to be back on Tumblr enough to map that out. If you're seeing this and want to do it, please go ahead and do it. Tag me like I tagged you, we are collaborators in this and I want to see what you say.

[wraenata]

i was tagged by fellow raven enthusiast @redstringraven, thank you! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Oops I trauma dumped in some of these what a surprise

share your wallpaper:

My phone lock screen is a alternating picture of my cat Sally, or her sister Jenny who passed two years ago. In both photos they look like super models <3

My computer wallpaper is a alternating slideshow of like over 100 landscape and animal photos. Idk I got them from the microsoft store free at one point. They change every 30 minutes. I like the variety.

last song you listened to:

For some reason when I got home today I decided to watch the amazing Reverse animatic and then since I am finally using a new browser Firefox it started auto playing and went to the Roaring 20s animatic, and my brain decided to listen to that on repeat the entire night. I do not know why.

currently reading:

SO MANY FANFIC and I'm behind on all of them

On my immediate list to catch up right now are

We'll Meet Again Soon by chiangyorange

all the ashes in my wake by paperxcrowns

Change of Perspective by characcoon

last movie you watched:

Honestly have no idea. Probably the Rise movie. In two weeks it will be Spider-Verse and I will not be normal about it.

craving:

Energy to be alive

what are you wearing right now:

Yeah I get home from work at 3:30, finish dinner before 4:30, shower and in my jammies by 5 pm. This is how I live my life haha. It is a bit cool today so I opted for my big pink sweatshirt from a campground.

how tall are you:

5 foot 4 inches just barely, which is 162.56 cm according to an online converter. I'm short.

piercings:

So my ears were actually pierced when I was like 3 or something by my parents' friend. No I don't think she asked permission haha. Anyway I had to have an x-ray done not a year later so the earings came out and never went back in. My parents religion we converted into though actually did not allow piercings, so I never got them repierced. No jewelry was allowed. Some of the more strict southern churches didn't allow even wedding bands.

tattoos:

None. Tattoos were literally the reason my mom made us leave the normal church and go to the cult one. Tattoos were not allowed. Maybe I'll get one some day but it's not something I really think I need. But nothing is stopping me anymore if I wanted to.

glasses? contacts?:

4 eyes that's me :) Got glasses in 6th grade yay. I'm not super blind but unless I'm pretty close I'm losing out on a lot of details. Had to buy special prescription safety glasses for my lab job. When I'm at home I don't wear them. Details not important.

last drink:

I literally only drink water. And I drink a lot of it. Gave up soda when I was like 8 because I was afraid of wasps getting in the can. I don't drink alcohol or juice. Maybe a hot cocoa or tea but that is very rare.

last thing i ate:

Sugar snap peas! I love them <3

last show:

Lets be honest it was rise.

favorite color:

I like a forest green. But also I love pastels. I do not like red. You can thank my mom for that.

current obsession:

Rise of the TMNT. Also Spider-Verse.

unrelated obsession:

Nature related strategy board games. My favorites are Wingspan and Everdell but I have so.many.board.games. I got into the hobby because it was the only thing I could tolerate spending time with my mom with but now I don't want to do that anymore, so the games have gone unplayed since Christmas.

any pets:

My 19 year old tortie Sally! She is deaf and a box of rocks and so expensive with her health problems but I love her to bits. She's my baby and has been with me through everything.

do you have a crush on anyone:

I mean I had crushes in school but, oh shocker I was never allowed by my parents to date. And even then it had to be a fellow pentecostal and I sure as hell wasn't going to do that. I was too bogged down with family issues to ever consider it even after I left. I don't know if I'm capable of loving someone? Idk I have always had a huge identity crisis of who I am and what I want. But I also don't want to be alone forever. It's complicated.

favorite fictional characters:

Ninja turtles, Rise Casey Jones, Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner), Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Spider Gwen, Snoopy, Cinderpelt.

the last place you traveled to:

Ugh, the bachelorette party of my nightmares this past weekend. It was in a tourist town a few hours away. Unless work counts cause I went to work this morning.

tagging I'm not going to tag anyone because this is a lot, but if you would like to do it I encourage you to!

[thirstyforred]

i don't want to make new post so im gonna borrow this one✌️i also spent some time thinking and came to the conclusion that I might as well include some comfort characters outside of the witcher since I do have them, anyway

Gavin Reed from Detroit: Become Human. i know, i know. dbh is, in every possible way, a bad game, story, worldbuilding, presentation, gameplay, everything sucks, and you know what the worst thing is? that this guy ⬆️ this character who had like 3 scenes total, is fandom's darling, special little stinky boy, there's a full-length fan movie with him as one of the main characters, it's actually pretty enjoyable watch, actually, fuck dbh just watch Detroit Evolution, I don't get it, but every once in a while I will look at my home page on AO3 with favs that are primarily dead fandoms and then there's link to reed900 tag and there's always something new to read there, and it's often good. and I just like case fics ig

Bullseye from Marvel. i remember that in the last year of high school, someone asked me, bc my whole group hated our English teacher and wasn't giving a fuck, why I'm giving visibly more effort, and I said that I want to know English so I can actually read comics and not just synopses of them on the polish fansite. it had to be literally a year before they started releasing hardbacks every month or so. anyway, the person told me that I probably can read them already, and I was like yeah ig, and then I got home and grabbed the list of Bullseye's every main appearance from the 70s till the Dark Reign storyline and was reading that for like two weeks. i have known no peace ever since 🥰

Ogata Hyakunosuke from Golden Kamuy. it's a bit more of a discomfort character, bc I feel like my brain got rewired last year, but still. idk what to say more, I feel like everyone who followed me since last march got to see the rise and fall, and then the general fallout of what reading gk did to me. F

Roderick de Wett from the Witcher games. no pic bc I would have to crop it myself and I'm lazy. I'm putting him here instead of Alvin literally only bc a few weeks ago after posting the bugfucking my first thought of comforting myself with some creative work was to break rod's arm. it did help so here we're, he's got to be officially my comfort character, and I'm the fool

Namrevlis from my brain. you may think, thirsty that's not fair, that's your oc, but I just typed her name in duckduckgo image search and got this pic so sue me. i have had her since like summer 2017, so that's a lot, and some things changed of course, and some didn't, I put her in some different settings just to see if she you be thriving and she did, idk what to say, sometimes your comfort character is someone you created and I think that really cool, if I'm suddenly crying now it's because I'm sick, fuck ogg

@do-androids-dream-ao3acc tagged me in a 5 comfort characters thing (thank!) so i'm doing this "try not to post 5 pictures of geralt of rivia" excercise

do ocs count? because honestly most of the time the feelgood for me comes from thinking about ocs. and i haven't delved deep enough into many properties to really get a diverse set of characters for this

so here's my top 5 witcher babygirls (gender neutral) in no particular order and excluding Gerry? predictable as all hell

Ciaran aep Easnillen, surprising absolutely nobody. But the cope i live on where he's perfectly fine and chilling in Vergen is just 'mmm, good for my lil guy'

Madoc, who is very close to becoming an oc (doesn't even have a canon appearance), though i stick to the journey story. It's tragic but it won't leave my brain. I want to ContentTM about him at some point down the road.

Bincy Blumerholdt, whose gwent card i used in my syndicate deck a long time ago and got great results with despite it not being a meta choice at all. And she's super cool.

Isbel of Hagge, i suppose of the entire tb cast, she's the closest to a comfort character for me. I love her vibe, the fact she shows her age, and i find the concept of a pacifist in a war time very interesting. I based a couple ocs on her.

And of course, my babygirl in chief, Rainfarn of Attre. Who is kinda becoming an oc as well, though at least there's more official content to work with. CDPR had to focus on other stuff in B&W, i get it, but they reduced my poor guy into "snorts fisstech randomly on the tourney grounds for everyone to see" which...i didn't like. I swear one day i will find the words and will to finish that fucking Gregoire fanfic.

i tag @gaiusmarcellusnerva and @thirstyforred, gimme your robots mgs eternal fire extravaganza

[dyrwoodan]

rules: tag 9 people you want to know better/catch up with then answer these questions

i was tagged by @vixenlesbian thank you ffion ♥ :^)

i tag @cheydinhaal @elmsreach @gwynbleidd @nordxz @shrimpnest @lvllns 🐑

3 ships: can’t really think of any besides ravell/serana and kaz/aloth. and since i’m reading kingdom of ash – dorian and manon. SO good. last song: laura palmer's theme by angelo badalamenti 😔 it’s just an instrumental piece from twin peaks but it’s so beautiful... i can’t stop listening to it last movie: the hobbit the desolation of smaug. had a good ol marathon,, currently craving: lasagna. i need lasagna. AND pumpkin soup. it’s almost 9pm and i forgot about lunch today :/ currently reading: the return of the king, kingdom of ash, blood of elves

[bastillewolf]

Hello idk if the requests are still going but if not then its okay ignore this and if they are please don't over work yourself and you don't need to do my request if you don't want to just stay healthy and eat well and drink lots of water we all live your work (and are simps for corpse-)

The ask : could I ask for a corpse husband x reader where they used to get shipped together before they even meet each other and when they meet each other corpse goes soft for reader and they play two rounds In among us together where they are imposters together and corpse is an imposter alone in the other round

Reader info : reader has a very soft voice and is a softie and the pronounce is she/her or they/them ( as you wish)

Again you don't gotta do it if you don't want to

Thanks so much for the ask, An. I was feeling like shit and this was a lot of fun to write. I’m sorry though, I completely read over the part where the reader was supposed to have a soft voice. I’ll see if I can make another one with this specification sometime. Also, I wrote this rather quickly because I’m watching Twilight for the first time and now my feelings are hurt.

#CorpseBride - Oneshot

Pairings: Corpse / Reader

Twitter wasn’t really your forte, but you knew how to get around. It’s just that you never really had the time to check it, let alone to see what’s on the trending page every single day. At the very least, you were capable of replying to your friends’ stuff and letting your viewers know when you were streaming or when a new video would be up. Again, you weren’t a pro, but you got by.

Until you didn’t.

“Hey, everyone,” you greeted, and immediately went to change your Among Us figure to its usual colour and outfit before someone else took it.

Everyone welcomed you, while it seemed Toast was still busy trying to get a last person to join.

“Whaddup, baby,” Corpse’s shot out from the rest of them. It was pure teasing, something he’d grown quite comfortable with ever since people had blatantly started simping for his voice. “Nothing much, honey. How’ve you been?” You cheekily replied. “Pretty good. Streaming still makes me nervous, though.” “You greeted me with ‘Whaddup, baby’ and then proceed to tell me you’re nervous? Don’t get upset when I say that I don’t believe you.” He chuckled at that.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

Impostor

“Ha!” you called out, “I doubt this will soothe your nerves, Corpse. You’re teamed up with me now.” You sneaked in a glance at chat. “We are not an old married couple! If anything, he can be my bitch for this round. I’m just not gonna murder anyone.”

And that’s basically how it went. He managed to kill three people and still wasn’t being sussed. “Alright, I think I’ve tortured him enough,” you laughed, “I’ll even spare Sykkuno for the man.”

You managed to corner Toast and killed him in a corner where the water wheels were, before heading out into admin. You vented until you found Corpse in Labs and jumped out. It was right when Sykkuno walked in.

“Oh, god no. Please, Sykkuno.”

Your kill count still wasn’t down yet and he was obviously planning to run straight out the door to hit the emergency button, but he was stopped. Corpse had murdered him in an instant.

Your mouth was hanging open. “Did… Did he just kill Sykkuno for me?” Chat was going absolutely wild. “What the fuck just happened?” You decided to report the body anyway.

“I can’t fucking believe it,” Corpse growled, “Not my best friend, Sykkuno.”

You had to mute yourself to keep the laughter at bay. Corpse evidently vouched for you, saying you’d walked in on the body together. Felix was sussed and voted out.

“Corpse, you killed me!” Sykkuno cried out.

“I’m so sorry, Sykkuno! I wanted to spare you but you walked in at the wrong time!” You pleaded.

“Sacrifices had to be made,” Corpse merely responded.

“Wait, what happened?” Sean asked.

“I walked in on one of them venting and then Corpse killed me!”

“Collateral damage. You watched me get killed one time, too.”

“Blame me, Sykkuno. It was my fault,” but you were laughing as you said it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard such regret coming from an imposter,” Sean laughed along, “Also, why the fuck were you two being so slow? Three meetings in and you’d only killed three people.”

“Corpse was simping for me,” you replied.

“I was not.”

“Yes, you were. Otherwise you would’ve asked me what the hell I’d been doing that entire time.”

“Fuck off,” he laughed.

“Corpse is an UWU-boy!”

“Oh my god, you guys are already trending.”

“Wait, what?”

Your phone was being blasted off to space, getting tons of messages with the hashtag #CorpseBride. It was number 1 trending on Twitter.

“So… whaddup, baby?”

“Oh no, you better buy me a drink first.”

“Sure.”

 You hadn’t thought he’d been serious in that moment, until he’d asked you to meet up after the game had ended. You hesitantly agreed, but reminded him that he absolutely did not have to participate in this just for the meme. “I’m not doing this for the meme,” he’d said, “I’ve been wanting to ask you out for a while, I just never knew how. It seemed like the perfect timing.”

You met him at his apartment, knowing how he was about going out in public, and feeling extremely nervous. You’d brought takeout, and because you hadn’t been sure what he wanted you’d ordered way too much. Upon opening the door, he looked at you, down at the bag, and said, “Shit, you got food?” Not really knowing what else to say, you simply replied, “Uh, yeah.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have lots of leftovers, then.”

He smiled, gave you a hug that ended way too fast and left you paralyzed for a minute, and then invited you in. It turned out he’d already ordered food, too. “Plenty to choose from,” he laughed awkwardly. “Uh… You got any neighbours who might want some?” you asked.

“I-I don’t really talk to anyone outside of my friend group.”

“Oh, of course. I could go around, if you’d like.”

“You’d do that for me?”

You furrowed your brows. “Of course I would. Why not?”

“Alright, but let me at least come with you. You just do the talking.”

Three knocks at three different doors later, and someone accepted the offer and took over some of the food. “Hang on a minute,” the elderly man said, clad in only his pyjamas and a bathrobe, managing to make the situation even more uncomfortable, “Aren’t you my neighbour? You always scurry off before I get the chance to talk to you!”

You looked at Corpse, and he back at you, and you turned back to the elderly man. “He, uh… He’s very people shy. He has anxiety. I’m trying to help him cope. Also, his vocal chords are damaged.” Nothing you’d said so far had been a lie, technically, but the man still remained sceptical. “Then why didn’t you just leave a note or something?”

“Uh…” you jumped at the small voice appearing from behind you. It’s just that his ‘small voice’ is still nothing close to small. “I know, I’m terribly sorry, sir. I also just wanted to let you know that if you ever need anything, I’m just a few doors away.”

This seemed to please the man enough.

“I can’t believe you made me do that.”

“I made you?!” You gasped, “I didn’t make you do anything, you filthy liar! You’re just as bad in real life as in Among Us, when you’re the impostor and I’m the innocent crewmate.”

“No comment.”

“I didn’t even ask you a question.”

“No comment.”

“Deadass?”

“Deadass.”

You both laughed. Corpse hesitated for just a moment, but decided to ask anyway, “Were you nervous when I opened the door?”

You chuckled awkwardly, admitting, “Yeah, I was. I always get anxious meeting people. Well, we’d met before, of course. But just, you know, in real life.”

“I get it.”

You stood there in silence for a moment, until you noticed the rest of the takeout in your hands was getting cold. “Come on, wife,” he joked, linking his pinkie finger with yours, “Let me get you that drink.”

If he hadn’t dragged you along then and there, you could’ve sworn your knees would’ve given out.

TAG LIST CLOSED

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[verobatto]

Destiel Chronicles

Vol. CXXVIII

It was a love story from the very beginning

I Love You and Goodbye

(15x18)

Hi my friends! We are finally in episode 15x18 "Despair" or "The Truth". The episode in which Destiel went canon.

So, let's grab our napkins and let's start with this.

Remember this meta is a summary from my metas from season 15 with some new additions now that the show ended.

You can find my metas from 15x18 following these links: X, X and X.

The last Destiel mirrors

I want to start this meta summary with the last two destiel mirrors from episode 15x18. Both of them were foreshadowing the big lover separation at the end.

Charlie always mirrored Dean, so it's very interesting to hear her talking about how her relationship with Stevie started.

She mentioned she didn't want to try that love thing again, it's a parallel of Dean's past with Cassie earlier in the show. It started as a game could be also related to Dean first attempts of flirting with Castiel in season 4 and 5.

I'll go with you...

One of the most iconic Destiel quotes has to be recalled in this episode too. Loyalty, love and abnegation from Castiel to Dean.

Because I Love You (Romantically)

This whole description from the scene it had been taken from my meta, I want to transcript the whole analysis here just because the moment I wrote this I was still hoping Dea would rescue Castieo, and I was crying and laughing hysterically, so... I wanna share that to all of you:

This love confession was beautiful, and Castiel made it clear he was talking about ROMANTIC LOVE, because the whole prelude in his wordings were perfectly clear. There's not doubt he was confessing his romantic love for Dean. He even mention THE ONLY THING I CAN'T HAVE is the thing that will make him happy.

It's canon he was asking himself what happiness could be!!! It means CAS THOUGHT ABOUT HOW COULD IT BE TO HAVE DEAN NOT JUST AS A FRIEND!!!!

He says too FROM THE MOMENT HE TOOK THAT BURDEN! FROM THE MOMENT HE RESCUED DEAN FROM HELL!!!!!! 'It has always been you', Dean!'

I'm gonna stop here just a little to point out why the quote "IT HAS ALWAYS BENN YOU" said by Billie takes a huge significance in here. Because Dean is not just the centric problem of a Cosmic entity, like Death, but the centric topic in Castiel's confession.

The love confession from 15x18 was a recalling of the first Destiel scene in the barn. In which Castiel saw a broken soul, a man that thought he didn't deserved to be saved, and immediately he took that challenge in his arms. The challenge was to make Dean BELIEVE HE WAS WORTHY. That he deserved to be saved AND LOVED. That's why from this moment on, Dean will change the way he sees himself.

When Castiel says he understood HAPPINESS IS NOT ABOUT TO HAVE IT, BUT IT'S ABOUT TO SAY IT (FEEL IT) immediately after saying he couldn't have that thing (Dean) is marking to all the audience that knowing HE CAN'T HAVE DEAN, HE IS HAPPY JUST FEELING THAT LOVE FOR HIM. LOVONG HIM AS HE DOES IS WHAT MAKES CAS HAPPY, AND CONFESSING THAT LOVE TO DEAN, RELEASE HIM.

Because Death gave a speech that became a summary of all the villains through this show, Castiel is the one purifying each mean word by transforming them into Dean's virtues.

While naming Dean's sacrifices and protective behavior, and showing him HE DID IT FOR LOVE, Castiel is trying to make Dean to see himself as CAS sees him.

Love yourself, because you are precious, because I LOVE YOU. You are not a monster, you are all this good things I see on you.

Gif set credit @mugiwara-lucy

Castiel crying, loving Dean with all of his self, and Dean in shock (or silenced by the network and the writers).

All the foreshadows of Dean gagging, vomiting, swallowing, eating... all of that was for this moment here. Dean's silence. Dean eating his words, Dean being silenced.

We could try to find other explanation, or live forever inside Jackie's magnificent acting options (giving us that swallow and mouth shut, as if he was trying to speak... as if he was trying to reply to his angel...) but truth is... C*W and the writers silenced him.

And then Castiel was swallowed by black goo, again. And that was Misha's last apparition. The ultimate sacrifice for love. Again.

Castiel Love's confession word by word

I'm gonna talk about specifically of the Destiel scene. Word by word, as I wrote in the third meta on the top of this volumen, with some new additions.

“I always wondered, ever since I took that that burden, that curse, I wondered what it could be, what...what my true happiness could even look like. I never found an answer. Because the one thing I want...it's something I know I can't have."

It's canon now that Castiel was wondering what would it be to have Dean not just as a friend, but as a lover, and I'm.... Okay. (Internally screaming).

Pointed by @weird-dorky-little-d, the parallel here with Pamela (Dean's fem mirror in Rocky's Bar) in which she said DEAN ALWAYS WANTED WHAT HE COULDN'T HAVE. It means, both dumbasses in love thought their love were unrequited (in the worst scenario) but maybe to Castiel was the Sacred Oath? Perhaps...

"But I think i know...I think I know now. Happiness isn't in the having. It's in just being. It's in just saying it.”

This is such a deep thought and it talks about Castiel's maturity of character. He understood once for all, that loving Dean Winchester, feeling what he feels for him, and expressing that to Dean, is his true happiness. Because...

METATRON: "(...) You draped yourself in the flag of Heaven, but ultimately, it was all about saving one human. Right?"

Dean: "What are you talking about, man?

This question coming from Dean shows the audience Dean didn't know what Castiel was trying to say. So this could be a clue about Dean thinking his love is unrequited.

Cas: “I know. I know how you see yourself, Dean. You see yourself the same way our enemies see you. You're destructive and you're angry and you're broken. You're...you're 'Daddy's Blunt Instrument.' And you think hate and anger, that's...that's what drives you. That's who you are. It's not. And everyone who knows you sees it.

Cas: You know, ever since I met you, ever since I pulled you out from Hell...

I was hoping Dean to give us our angel back, but well. It was Jack. Hehehee.

Gif set credit @spnsmile

I recommend to go to the third link on the top of this meta and read @mrsaquaman187 amazing body language reading of this scene!

But now, about what Castiel is saying...

If you are still alive, i just want to point how romantic is this, because he is saying that Dean changed him for good. And he is naming all their family, Sam, Jack, and humanity, the world. Dean. So practically, Cas is saying, Dean showed Cas how to take care of others. Damn...

This is a call back to Castiel's talk with Ishim in 12x10:

ISHIM: The way you let those simians talk to you... Castiel, when did you get so gooey? You know why we're meant to stay away from them humans? Hmm? It's not because we're a danger to them. They're a danger to us. Case in point.

CAS: Well, my friendship with Sam and Dean has made me stronger.

Castiel rewording again, because he knows what Dean did on him, Dean changed him for good.

DEAN (quiet, resigned) Why does this sound like a goodbye?

CASTIEL: Because it is. I love you. (he smiles)

DEAN: Don't do this, Cas.

Dean's last words to Castiel... don't do this, don't confess your love for me and then die again.

It's painfully beautiful. Castiel was the light that touched Dean's life changing him for ever. He was loved and cared by this angel, and at the same time, Dean learned how to love Castiel in silence.

To Conclude:

The most beautiful love story ever told could've ended differently, happily, the way Dean and Cas deserved. But it ended up as a tragedy.

And we are here to fix it.

Destiel is canon and Destiel is forever.

Hope you like this meta. See you in the next one that will be the last one!

Tagging @magnificent-winged-beast @emblue-sparks @weirddorkylittlediana @michyribeiro @whyjm @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @dea-stiel @poorreputation @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @authorsararayne @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67 @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @deeutdutdutdoh @destiel-shipper-11 @larrem88 @charmedbycastiel @ran-savant @little-crazy-misha-minion @samoosetheshipper

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @mishtho @dancingtuesdaymorning @nerditoutwithbooks @mikennacac73 @justmeand-myinsight @idontwantpeopletoknowmyname @teddybeardoctor @pepevons @helevetica @dizzypinwheel @horsez2 @qanelyytha

@destielle @spnsmile @shippsblog @robot-feels @superlock-in-the-tardis @superduckbatrebel @belacoded @madronasky @anon-non2 @cea1996 @lisafu02 @asphodelesauvage @deancasgirl777

If you want to be added or removed from this list, just let me know.

If you wanna read the previous metas from this season, here you have the links:

Volume CXXI, CXXII, CXXIII, CXXIV, CXXV, CXXVI, CXXVII.

Buenos Aires, August 28 th 2021 9:03 PM