neonka45

[rkvriki]

domestic moments with them

im back HA. ngl this has been on my drafts for longer than i would like to admit but anyways. enhas new tour how are we feeling :/ ugh. hope you enjoy this!!!!

make sure to leave feedback! my requests are closed and my talk box is always open so lets talk!

WARNINGS ! mentions of food? playful arguing in heeseungs; non-sexual bath in sunoo's, i think that all!

word count: 1.3k

LEE HEESEUNG ! – game nights

we all know heeseung loves gaming and obviously he would love it if you were keen on it as well and if you weren’t he would try to slowly introduce you to it. he would be all excited when he got a free day to spend with you. he hits you up with texts to tell you he’s coming over and before you know it he’s by your door with his hands full of your favourite snacks and sodas. you would set blankets and pillows up on the floor so you could both sit comfortably while playing. heeseung tried not to be competitive with you when you both started dating but after you were together for a while he would get all worked up with you. if you were playing 1v1 against each other he would do anything to win and if he lost he would be so pouty. if you were playing online he would be screaming orders at you making you scream back at him. in the end you both ended up cuddling while eating the rest of the snacks and would laugh at both of your previous behaviors. 

rest under the cut !

PARK JONGSEONG ! – cooking together

if i’m not wrong this is probably the second time i write about this and i will never shut up about it!  jay loves cooking and he loved cooking, especially for you even more. so when you join him in his favourite hobby he is so happy. he would cook the main course while you would bake some dessert for you two. both of you would be busy, most of the time in silence only exchanging a few words while easy-listening tunes played from his speaker in the background. while he let something cook he would sneakily come behind you and hug you, his arms circling your waist, making you turn your head around to leave a kiss on his lips. the kitchen would be filled with the comforting smell of food, making both of your stomachs grumble in hunger. after everything was done you would decorate the dining table with candles and your best cutlery, while jay would plate the food neatly. you two would have a candlelit dinner, talking and laughing with each other, something you both treasured so much since these moments were rare due to jay’s career.

SIM JAEYUN ! – breakfast in bed

jake isn’t really an early bird and it’s rare for him to wake up early but sometimes when he does, he’ll sneakily walk to the kitchen to prepare you some good breakfast or brunch. he’ll try his best to cook for you even though he’s not the best cook in the world. the only things being heard in the kitchen would be the sizzling of the pan and his silent curses when he burns himself. the smell of bacon and pancakes would fill your small kitchen. he would be pacing back and forth looking for all kinds of ingredients in your counters and drawers. jake would prepare you such fancy coffee adding all kinds of toppings and adding things to give the drink some extra flavour. he would put everything nicely on a tray and would carefully walk to the bedroom, trying to keep everything from falling. you were already awake when jake came in smiling fondly at you, seeing you rub the sleep of your eyes. you both would eat silently on the bed as the sun hit right on your window.

PARK SUNGHOON ! – dancing in the living room

this one is just me projecting my own fantasies. sunghoon would be on his day off and whats better than spending it with you whom he missed so much? you two would be in your living room, just talking about random topics, laughing with each other, but it was mostly you updating him on the latest gossips from work colleagues. you had ordered some snacks and they were all almost gone. you both started complaining about still being hungry so you grabbed your phone to order more. before putting your phone down you got up to turn your speaker on and connected it to your phone. soft jazzy tunes started sounding in the room, changing the room's atmosphere to a more romantic one. you turned to look at sunghoon and extended your hand to him, making him laugh at you but hold it nonetheless as he got you. you wrapped your arms around his neck and you both started swaying from side to side to the rhythm of the music. you laid your head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as he ran his hands up and down your back.

KIM SUNOO ! – bubble bath

self-care is a must for both you and sunoo. starting with skincare. you wouldn’t even need to buy any because, oh! did sunoo buy something for him? don’t worry, he got two of it so he could give you one. you would have a whole shelf full of products, almost full to the brim. every time sunoo and you had a sleepover you would always do full self-care, watching movies with face masks type of thing. but when you were both feeling a little extra you both would do everything to turn your bathroom in a full spa room. candles of all scents would be lit on each corner of the bathtub. bath bombs already spreading in the warm water along with flower petals you neatly scattered in there. you both put face masks on your faces before grabbing some fancy drink (wine) and getting in the water on opposite sidea. you both would sigh in unison, feeling your bodies relax under the warmth embracing both of you.

YANG JUNGWON ! – pottery at home

i can’t stop thinking about jungwon’s vlog. the first time he saw you after making some pottery he was so happy to tell you about it and you both agreed to try and do it at home one day. so one day jungwon came over to your house with a bag full of cheap kid’s paint and clay. you both put old sheets on the floor to avoid staining it and put an old kitchen towel on the table. after putting on some old clothes you both started playing around with the clay. soon enough your table was a mess full of brown water, stained from the clay. both of your faces dirty with dry clay from both of you rubbing it in each other’s faces. none of you had done a single useful thing out of it, multiple things in weird shapes were laid out on your table. every time any of you made something you would show it to the other laughing at the lack of skill put in the piece of art. even though jungwon tried to follow the rules he had when he went to do pottery professionally he gave it all and ended up just playing around with you.

 NISHIMURA RIKI ! – picnics at home

time alone with you is one of the most precious things for ni-ki. it’s so rare for him to have the smallest amount of time with you so he tries to make every minute of his day off with you enjoyable. but as we all know it’s complicated for you to have outdoor dates and you both have expressed your desire to go on a picnic together near the river, but it all stays wistful wishes that need to be postponed for a far future. so you and ni-ki stick with your at-home dates that you love more than anything. you both would take everything that was placed in the centre of your living room and you would decorate it with checkered picnic blankets and place vases and plants around just for the sake of it. you would even prepare a little basket with all the food you made for both of you. you two would enjoy it so much, both of your hearts filled with warmth as you enjoyed each other's company.

[hetaherr]

playing video games with them | anemo boys <3

: kazuha, xiao, venti, wanderer

:mostly crack, a little suggestive but no warnings

well anyway this is another reupload!! added kuni’s part also got lazy to proof read its just a headcanon anyway!!! i play wayy to much video games and id love to share my hobbies with these sweet babies <3

kazuha

i think this baby is a really chill gamer, he enjoys the cozy aspect of video games. thats why i think games like minecraft, stardew valley, animal crossing and the sims!! cozy video game dates are a norm for you guys when its too hot outside or too rainy.

imagine playing stardew valley with him, curled up under the covers with your MATCHING SWITCH CONSOLES. you guys working through the first few years of the game as little farm people doing little farm things. he’d even find some helpful guides online so you guys can maximise your finances in the game. honestly i can see how he gets a little petty at the fact that you MARRIED some npc in the game and he had to watch the whole cutscene while you joked around that he hadn’t given you enough attention and this was all his fault. now kazuha hates that particular npc, and he’s definitely pouting the whole night. give him lots of smooches, tell him that no video game code can replace your pookie wookie baby boy <3

but there, of course are other ways you can make up for it, like asking him to marry you- in animal crossing duh!! he’d take this whole thing very seriously obviously, its a wedding silly. he’d prepare a little wedding venue in his world by the beach, even going as far to design a cute little tux. it’s adorable, also don’t think for a second that he wouldn’t give you a kiss (giggling after) when the wedding officiant says you may now kiss. i also can picture kazuha buying you a promise ring irl , with a maple leaf engraved onto it. yes it was a animal crossing wedding, but it was YOUR WEDDING non the less.

another thing i can imagine is while you were playing the sims kazuha would 100% ask to create a little family with you. he’d even help to go “shopping” online for CC that would fit your characters or homes. kazuha DIES A LITTLE inside as you carefully curate each of the characters, spending hours deciding on the perfect outfits, hairs and personalities. coming up with mini fantasy stories about the mini yous and giggling along with him when they get a little too absurd. your cute family consists of you, kazuha and a little white cat. kazuha likes watching you get a little flustered whenever his character flirts with yours, sending a romantic haiku your way. not to mention the first time your character’s woohoo’ed he teasingly said:

“its honestly a shame that they’re the only ones that get to woohoo you know?”

anyway kazuha is 100% down to try as many games as he can with you, playing games with him is 10 bells out of 10 bells hehe

xiao

gamer xiao… yea he kinda scares me. xiao plays shooter games for sure, like obviously he’s had an eboy valorant phase but lets skip past that for now. its definitely more than normal to hear him grumbling how “dogshit” some of his teammates are. he’s definitely muted from chat on several games, also banned from league most of the time from being toxic in the chats.

playing competitive games with xiao is definitely an experience, and it definitely does not feel like the stereotypical pocket sage and hyper-carry jett. so please proceed with caution. the first time you and him played together, he may have gotten a little TOO HEATED and may have cussed you out on accident forgetting it was his loving, doting and caring partner who just wanted to participate in one of his hobbies. xiao doesn’t mean to get angry at you, please bare with him when the words “how is this person so fucking bad, how are they SO USELESS JUST GET OFF THE GAME DUDE” slip out. and oh boy… xiao immediately regrets his words, he feels so bad. he was actually overjoyed when you asked to play with him, even if he doesn’t actually show it, now he definitely assumes that you won’t ever want to play games with him EVER, hell maybe you want to break up. he’s spiralling. he apologises so much and he’s so awkward and so fidgety. its hard to stay mad at him, when he’s like this you have to admit he’s a little cutie. the next few days he’s definitely cautious and on edge around you, he finds it weird that you let go of the situation so easily and just moved on. he cant believe he let such vulgar words be thrown towards you. so after a conversation about his behaviour, you both decide maybe its best you just be an observer. you’re more than happy to straddle him, chin on his shoulder when he plays at his pc. and xiao LOVES IT, there is honestly nothing more comforting than you give him a little kiss when he starts to get a little too tense. occasionally when you face the screen and watch his games, he gets so nervous to play well. and xiao absolutely DIES when you compliment his abilities. bro needs the praise please, in that moment he thinks you’re so sexy and you have such a caring soul and his ears are tinted so red. don’t tease him though, he won’t be able to play the game properly.

another thing xiao is so weirdly good at is arcade games. i can picture arcade dates and xiao is just godly at them, claw machines, those basketball ones, car racing- you name it sweetheart and he’s earning those tickets like he needs to feed his 20 kids as a single dad. xiao acts so nonchalant about it, shrugging his shoulders as if this talent of his isn’t a big deal, but inside he’s so proud that he’s managed to get you that plushie he knows you’d been eyeing the whole day. he loves the way you grip onto his biceps pulling him to another machine to test his abilities, he may grumble about you overreacting but he’s so happy just to see you smile. and having you cheer him on the side is such an added bonus, you’re such a cute cheerleader. anyway i rate xiao a “please dont scold me baby im trying my best” out of “FUCK YOU FUCKING SUCK”

venti

horror games. literally venti HATES THEM but he cant get enough of it. playing phasmophobia would be so incredibly fun, but also a total shitshow. like im talking him making you do all the work while he intentionally provokes the ghost. at the same time he’s too scared to do anything so, he’s always really close to you. so if anything ever happens, you’d be a total idiot to think he’d try to help you, venti would be the first one out the door and running away. venti is also so horrendously LOUD, literally half the time instead of getting spooked by the game, your having a heart attack inducing jump scare from his random screaming. don’t even get me started on roblox horror games, every week there’s some new game he discovered on tiktok, and you are playing it with him, you have to.

another game venti loves to play is sims, but he’s about 100 times more chaotic compared to kazuha. he loves those ridiculous challenges and he wants to have like 10 babies with you, and then proceeds to cry when they are taken away from the sims version of cps. for some reason he has all the packs and likes to screw around with everything. he makes silly little bets with you in any game, for example in the sims he’d bet with you whether your 23rd child is going to be a boy or girl, most bets are harmless like a kiss or cuddles, unless he’s in the mood.

speaking of intimacy, venti needs to be holding you while playing games. arms linked, lying on your lap or you in his, honestly you just let him because he’s so cheeky about it anyway. venti also loves playing music related games with you, duh!! karaoke, guess the song, finish the lyric. ANYTHING!! whether you can sing or not, he just loves to hear your voice, definitely teases you if you cant though hehe. karaoke is so fun, if your shy he definitely eases you into letting lose and breaking out of your comfort zone, duetting with you is something he loves because music is his passion and honestly it hits so close to home for him. you’d often find him squeezing your hand as a form of encouragement.

im rating venti a solid 8 red bulls out of “i’ve already had 15”.

wanderer

this little emo baby is 100% only ever playing single player games, things that are extremely grindy and super lore heavy (bro is on subreddits looking at game theories and conspiracies, he would love to talk to you about them if you ever asked)!! im talking about bloodborne, doom, assassin’s creed and dark souls. he hates online multiplayer games because he doesn’t want to interact with “idiots” as he’s mentioned numerous times. so unfortunately its not often that you have a chance to play any type of multiplayer games with him.

however when it comes to his gaming sessions, he’d subtly invite you to come watch him because you’re like his own little streaming audience, and he loves it. the way you comment about how cool his character looks, or ask questions about gameplay mechanics. he loves how you involve yourself in his hobbies, it turns him to mush. he also loves how you play with his hair while peeking over his shoulder to look at the tv screen as he taps away at the controller. sometimes when the game gets a little boring he notices how your breath bounces off his neck, needless to say, those nights end up a bit more differently than how you originally imagined.

also if your ever interested in the game, kuni would “hesitantly” offer you to play on a new save file. but he’s actually elated that you’re going to try his FAVOURITE video game ever. you take your place in his lap as he explains to you the basics, not many would notice but you can ever so slightly hear the excitement in his voice. kuni complains about you being so lost but he’s so careful with explaining certain things, he’s also so patient as you take hours designing your character, well he’s okay being patient since its you. kuni absolutely DISSOLVES when facing a difficult boss, puzzle or obstacle, you kinda go into a slump against his chest and beg him to help you get past it. he snickers that your so weak, but somehow he manages to get through so swiftly- i guess he needs to show off a little to you. he also may complain a lot but thats just how this baby boy is, dont get discouraged he actually thinks you’re so cute.

also if you ever find yourself playing overcooked, moving out, gang beasts or any of those party games with kuni… good luck, just because he doesn’t like competitive games like valorant, DOES NOT MEAN HE ISNT COMPETITIVE. he gets so worked up and its honestly a little cute if you can look past the crusty white dog behaviour. if you do end up getting into an argument over these games, dont be surprised. im lazy to give a rating so im giving him 10/10, again minus the crusty white dog.

edit: if you saw “anyway wanderer is a straight” HAHA i apologise maybe thats why i should straight proof reading oops hehe

[oinonsana]

Tactical Combat, Violence Dice and Missing Your Attacks in Gubat Banwa

In this post I talk about game feel and decision points when it comes to the "To-Hit Roll" and the "Damage Roll" in relation to Gubat Banwa's design, the Violence Die.

Let's lay down some groundwork: this post assumes that the reader is familiar and has played with the D&D style of wargame combat common nowadays in TTRPGs, brought about no doubt by the market dominance of a game like D&D. It situates its arguments within that context, because much of new-school design makes these things mostly non-problems. (See: the paradigmatic shift required to play a Powered by the Apocalypse game, that completely changes how combat mechanics are interpreted).

With that done, let's specify even more: D&D 5e and 4e are the forerunners of this kind of game--the tactical grid game that prefers a battlemat. 5e's absolute dominance means that there's a 90% chance that you have played the kind of combat I'll be referring to in this post. The one where you roll a d20, add the relevant modifiers, and try to roll equal to or higher than a Target Number to actually hit. Then when you do hit, you roll dice to deal damage. This has been the way of things since OD&D, and has been a staple of many TTRPG combat systems. It's easy to grasp, and has behemoth cultural momentum. Each 1 on a d20 is a 5% chance, so you can essentially do a d100 with smaller increments and thus easier math (smaller numbers are easier to math than larger numbers, generally).

This is how LANCER works, this is how ICON works, this is how SHADOW OF THE DEMON LORD works, this is how TRESPASSER works, this is how WYRDWOOD WAND works, this is how VALIANT QUEST works, etc. etc. It's a tried and true formula, every D&D player has a d20, it's emblematic of the hobby.

There's been a lot more critical discussion lately on D&D's conventions, especially due to the OGL. Many past D&D only people are branching out of the bubble and into the rest of the TTRPG hobby. It's not a new phenomenon--it's happened before. Back in the 2010s, when Apocalypse World came out while D&D was in its 4th Edition, grappling with Pathfinder. Grappling with its stringent GSL License (funny how circular this all is).

Anyway, all of that is just to put in the groundwork. My problem with D&D Violence (particularly, of the 3e, 4e, and 5e version) is that it's a violence that arises from "default fantasy". Default Fantasy is what comes to mind when you say fantasy: dragons, kings, medieval castles, knights, goblins, trolls. It's that fantasy cultivated by people who's played D&D and thus informs D&D. There is much to be said about the majority of this being an American Samsaric Cycle, and it being tied to the greater commodification agenda of Capitalism, but we won't go into that right now. Anyway, D&D Violence is boring. It thinks of fights in HITS and MISSES and DAMAGE PER SECOND.

A Difference Of Paradigm and Philosophies

I believe this is because it stems from D&D still having one foot in the "grungy dungeon crawler" genre it wants to be and the "combat encounter balance MMO" it also wants to be. What ends up happening is that players play it like an immersive sim, finding ways to "cheese" encounters with spells, instead of interacting with the game as the fiction intended. This is exemplified in something like Baldur's Gate 3 for example: a lot of the strats that people love about it includes cheesing, shooting things before they have the chance to react, instead of doing an in-fiction brawl or fight to the death. It's a pragmatist way of approaching the game, and the mechanics of the game kind of reinforce it. People enjoy that approach, so that's good. I don't. Wuxia and Asian Martial Dramas aren't like that, for the most part.

It must be said that this is my paradigm: that the rules and mechanics of the game is what makes the fiction (that shared collective imagination that binds us, penetrates us) arise. A fiction that arises from a set of mechanics is dependent on those mechanics. There is no fiction that arises independently. This is why I commonly say that the mechanics are the narrative. Even if you try to play a game that completely ignores the rules--as is the case in many OSR games where rules elide--your fiction is still arising from shared cultural tropes, shared ideas, shared interests and consumed media.

So for Gubat Banwa, the philosophy was this: when you spend a resource, something happens. This changes the entire battle state--thus changing the mechanics, thus changing the fiction. In a tactical game, very often, the mechanics are the fiction, barring the moments that you or your Umalagad (or both of you!) have honed creativity enough to take advantage of the fiction without mechanical crutches (ie., trying to justify that cold soup on the table can douse the flames on your Kadungganan if he runs across the table).

The other philosophy was this: we're designing fights that feel like kinetic high flying exchanges between fabled heroes and dirty fighters. In these genres, in these fictions, there was no "he attacked thrice, and one of these attacks missed". Every attack was a move forward.

So Gubat Banwa removed itself from the To-Hit/Damage roll dichotomy. It sought to put itself outside of that paradigm, use game conventions and cultural rituals that exist outside of the current West-dominated space. For combat, I looked to Japanese RPGs for mechanical inspiration: in FINAL FANTASY TACTICS and TACTICS OGRE, missing was rare, and when you did miss it was because you didn't take advantage of your battlefield positioning or was using a kind of weapon that didn't work well against the target's armor. It existed as a fail state to encourage positioning and movement. In wuxia and silat films, fighters are constantly running across the environment and battlefield, trying to find good positioning so that they're not overwhelmed or so that they could have a hand up against the target.

The Violence Die: the Visceral Attacking Roll

Gubat Banwa has THE VIOLENCE DIE: this is the initial die or dice that you roll as part of a specific offensive technique.

In the above example, the Inflict Violence that belongs to the HEAVENSPEAR Discipline, the d8 is the Violence Die. When you roll this die, it can be modified by effects that affect the Violence Die specifically. This becomes an accuracy effect: the more accurate your attack, the more damage you deal against your target's Posture. Mas asintado, mas mapinsala.

You compare your Violence Die roll to your target's EVADE [EVD]. If you rolled equal to or lower than the target's EVD, they avoid that attack completely. There: we keep the tacticality of having to make sure your attack doesn't miss, but also EVD values are very low: often they're just 1, or 2. 4 is very often the highest it can go, and that's with significant investment.

If you rolled higher than that? Then you ignore EVD completely. If you rolled a 3 and the target's EVD was 2, then you deal 3 DMG + relevant modifiers to the DMG. When I wrote this, I had no conception of "removing the To-Hit Roll" or "Just rolling Damage Dice". To me this was the ATTACK, and all attacks wore down your target's capacity to defend themselves until they're completely open to a significant wound. In most fights, a single wound is more than enough to spell certain doom and put you out of the fight, which is the most important distinction here.

In the Thundering Spear example, that targets PARRY [PAR], representing it being blocked by physical means of acuity and quickness. Any damage brought about by the attack is directly reduced by the target's PAR. A means for the target to stay in the fight, actively defending.

But if the attack isn't outright EVADED, then they still suffer its effects. So the target of a Thundering Spear might have reduced the damage of an attack to just 1 (1 is minimum damage), they would still be thrown up to 3 tiles away. It matches that sort of, anime combat thing: they strike Goku, but Goku is still flung back. The game keeps going, the fight keeps going.

On Mechanical Weight

When you miss, the mechanical complexity immediately stops--if you miss, you don't do anything else. Move on. To the next Beat, the next Riff, the next Resound, think about where you could go to better your chances next time.

Otherwise, the attack's other parts are a lot more mechanically involved. If you don't miss: roll add your Attacking Prowess, add extra dice from buffs, roll an extra amount of dice representing battlefield positioning or perhaps other attacks you make, apply the effects of your attack, the statuses connected to your attack. It keeps going, and missing is rare, especially once you've learned the systematic intricacies of Gubat Banwa's THUNDERING TACTICS BATTLE SYSTEM.

So there was a lot of setup in the beginning of this post just to sort of contextualize what I was trying to say here. Gubat Banwa inherently arises from those traditions--as a 4e fan, I would be remiss to ignore that. However, the conclusion I wanted to come up to here is the fact that Gubat Banwa tries to step outside of the many conventions of that design due to that design inherently servicing the deliverance of a specific kind of combat fiction, one that isn't 100% conducive to the constantly exchanging attacks that Gubat Banwa tries to make arise in the imagination.

[imbecominggayer]

Writing Advice: How To Write A Tight Story!!!

You are trying to write a story :D

BUT! The characters just feel so disconnected from each other that at this point they come from different genres. The plot lines just seem to be weaving less of a beautiful tapestry and more of a hairball. Nothing seems to be going together.

but fear not, for I am going to be giving advice today on how to connect your characters and plot thematically!

Today, we are pulling out our tool box and breaking out themes, motifs, and great writer shit!

A) Character Design :D

The trick to character design is to make everyone unique enough that they stand apart from eachother but cohesive enough you can look at them and say "yeah".

A trick that I use is to ground them in ~realism~

If your characters live in a cold weather, then obviously they're going to wear clothing that protects them from the cold. Now, there are circumstances that might permit your character to wear non-cold appropriate clothing like superpowers or species-related stuff but just grounding your characters into the setting and just saying "what would they need?" can just do amazing things for your characters.

Other things that cohesive-fy your characters is sharing a fundamental aesthetic but then having different branches of of these aesthetics. These aesthetics tend to also come with the setting!

Sci-Fi = Futuristic (Solarpunk, Cyberpunk, Cyberpop, Oceanpunk)

Fantasy = Nature (cottagecore, ravencore, dragoncore, etc.)

Slice of Life = Mundane Cozy (Academia, Clean Girl, Casual)

You get the point. Even the social outcasts will be using the same materials as the in-crowd uses, unless it's specialized material. The difference is in how they wear it. A social outcast's Sci-Fi outfit will probably be a bit tattered. A bit dystopian maybe. But it's still Sci-Fi!

Two characters can wear a crop top of the same material and still seem distinct enough if their backstories have them being distinct.

Differentiating characters is pretty easy. Have them share the same overall type of stuff and let the details weave the story.

B) Plot Lines

Look, there is no easy way to say this but you probably need to cut out some parts of your story.

Let me tell you, a plot is a summary of all of it's subplots. The goal of a subplot is to gradually build up these elements whether it be character arcs, character relationships and all that good shit so it can light a bigger fire.

It's just like a bonfire. The characters are the spark, the subplots are the logs, and the plot is the fire.

Ask yourself this:

Is there a way I can incorperate this character arc into a grander action-focused plot where I actively demonstrate this character's change?

Is there a way I can morph two subplots together so I can get both the benefits and the lessen load?

Is there a way I can give character responsibilities onto the well-developed characters I already have instead of just making new ones?

All of these questions can help chop off some of the bad filler that is weighing your story down. And also give your story a bit more breathing room so you can have all of those important quiet moments.

C) Themes :D

Let me tell you, having themes just makes my story that much more cohesive. It feels like there is this overarching tie between all of my characters that just makes the story feel that much more well-thoughtout.

A good example of characters being reflective of the overall theme of the show is "The World God Only Knows"! It's a harem anime that genuinely feels very well-thoughtout with the comedic dating sim parody elements and the deeper message about the fight with reality both bouncing off of each other.

It feels like a world wear the characters and the theme are both gently rocking the worldbuilding and story together.

Having themes allows me to identify potential character flaws within my cast, develop characters that I didn't really have an idea about, and the overall worldbuilding of the WIP.

Overall, my themes tend to read more like central ideas. It's less about a moral message in my opinion but an explanation.

Some of my lastest themes are:

" the horrors of love and understanding"

" the alienation of being not human in a world of humans"

"the burden of being forced into selflessness"

"the desire to no longer exist"

"the fantasy of controlling reality"

"the limitations of instinct"

I'll give you a quick summary of how each different theme impacted the characters and the storyline :D

"the horrors of love and understanding" inspired the storyline of being smothered in a Hive Mind and the desire to not be an individual anymore since it's so lonely being singular. It developed my main characters extensively.

"the alienation of being not human" was definitely uplifted by the fact that this is a superhero story about literal non-humans who may look and sometimes act human but will always be eternally aware of the chasm. It shaped my protagonists extensively.

"the burden of selflessness" inspired the motivation behind why Yituing became a villain. It also serves as the mantra for Nonkosi's character arc. The theme was eventually developed into a commentary on the Strong Black Woman

"the desire to not longer exist" was uplifted with heavy religious symbolism. This was demonstrated through an angel trying to use empathy as a way of self-imploding and an ex-pastor using invisibility to try and drive themself away from humanity.

"the fantasy of controllin reality" was developed in an isekai setting which definitely drove home the theme of literally escaping the necessary evils of reality for the simplicity of fantasy. All of the characters are inspired off of motivations protagonists tend to have which ultimately boiled down to a desire for control.

"the limitations of instinct" was a crtique on the argument that what's natural is somehow better. The main protagonists work with their instinctual existences with Nariman lacking in empathy and Hetrunmeass being an android who can literally turn off their feelings at any moment. They grow beyond who they were. They still are what they are but they are also something more.

[gascon-en-exil]

A Primer on Actual (SFW-ish) Male Fanservice

Has this ever happened to you? You're making a social media post or video or whatever about Fire Emblem Heroes, and you point out that a primary feature of the game is its unrelenting torrent of horny-just-verging-on-explicit female character designs: the physics-defying bras, the impossibly-contorted boobs-and-butt poses, upskirts and camel toes galore, strategically-placed rips in damaged art, the odd foot focus here and there, etc.

You're making a good case - not that it's hard, IS is not subtle about any of this - but then someone comes along and leaves a comment to the effect of "but the summer banners have shirtless men! Checkmate, loser."

This post aims to counter that, to demonstrate that genuine male fanservice on par with what FEH does with its female characters looks very, very different and amounts to much more than just muscular guys with their shirts off. To do so, I'm going to have to pull example art from pretty much the only video game subgenre that can be relied upon to deliver here: sexually explicit gay dating sims. We're going to be looking at how these games frame the male body, and what sexualized (partial) male nudity really looks like outside of the aspirational power fantasy lens adopted by most mainstream, straight-male directed media including FEH.

Of course, I'm gay myself, and I can anticipate the rebuttal to this rebuttal - that women, allegedly, do not eroticize the body in the same way as men...unless they're dirty fujoshi in which case their opinions can be immediately discarded. I leave it to any women reading this to have fun unpacking that nonsense.

(It must be noted that, while the games I'm pulling these images from are all explicit, I've gone out of my way to select art that would theoretically fall within what seem to be the content guidelines of FEH: no exposed genitals or bare butts. I'm labeling this post SFW-ish all the same though, so use your discretion when viewing.)

Let's start with something simple and softcore from Coming Out on Top.

This is a variant on a popular mild fanservice image: a guy lifts his shirt, exposing his belly (and possibly stomach hair). In context this is also intended to convey vulnerability, as the character is drunk and struggling to undress. Also noteworthy is that the framing here is explicit with the MC in the shot.

Continuing with the softer stuff, here's one from clicker game Blush Blush.

This game has a bunch of technically SFW options to choose from, but I went with this for two reasons. One, it's an example of how shirtless men can be eroticized without being excessively muscular; two, it's a goofy holiday pic that teases with the strategically-placed candy cane and the allusion to the "Dick in a Box" Saturday Night Live song. The NSFW variation of this image goes full throttle with that idea.

From All Men Are Pigs:

I really wanted to include something from this game as its art style stands out quite a bit in contrast to many of the others here, although unfortunately some of the best examples break the rule. Here in a rare (for these games) non-sexual action pose, the character is performing a ballet routine on a stripper pole in a gay bar: a campy concept that works fairly well in context and that explicitly calls attention to the character as an eroticized object. He is, however, consenting to the in-universe ogling, and as he's elsewhere revealed to have experience with sex work it's understood that he knows the value of showing off his body. Call that something you'd never hear a character express in FEH...except someone like Camilla, perhaps?

Let's get a little spicier with a pair from Full Service.

This may be the tamest of the swimwear outfits seen in the game's beach episode, but I wanted something that would compare to the summer banner designs of FEH's male characters. Even so, note the pose: reclining, legs slightly open, displaying a single nipple. This guy is the biggest bottom in the game's cast and is framed as such, even with the relatively conservative outfit and the sunglasses obscuring his face (which symbolically tie into his internalized biphobia and anxiety about publicly expressing his attraction to men). Further, because this character is a model it may be assumed that the posing is intended to be read as deliberate.

This one comes from the game's costume night set piece, which includes several designs that wouldn't be out of place in some of the more random seasonal banners. I chose this one as a counterpoint to what FEH does with its shirtless men. There's the cocky expression, the crotch bulge with nothing underneath, and the angling which makes it look like he's standing over you. To contrast the beach image, this guy is the total top of the cast, so the musclebound partial nudity is less about being aspirational for the presumed viewer and more about erotic dominance.

For something more fantastical, here's one from the sci-fi title The Symbiant: Re:Union.

This game's main claim to fame is alien tentacle porn, but this scene is intended as a moment of genuine, human(oid) vulnerability for the character, on the night when he reunites with his ex (the MC and viewer here) for the first time in two years. The camera pans up over his entire body, ending on this view in profile with a very large nip slip and the cigarette calling attention to his hand and mouth. As with several others, this image is also deliberate enticement, conveying both the languor of casual hookups and the weight of the characters' history together. (Obviously a mobile gacha doesn't have the space to grant such narrative or thematic significance to its eroticism...but that is part of the point.)

Moving along, here's one from Camp Buddy: Scoutmaster Season. Get ready for the just-shy-of-X-rated.

This one's a character portrait, unlike all the others here which are CGs, so debatably it's more in line with what you'd see in FEH. And...yep. It's a sexy bull costume. "Crotch bulge" doesn't begin to cover it, there's the pubic hair, the pierced nipples, and assorted other bits like the bell and the saddle and the tailed butt plug. Some time ago I showed off a different horny character design from this game and got an anon calling it stupid, so let's talk about that. Is this design technically something someone could wear in real life? Yes; parts of it resemble bondage gear, and the character displays his interest in leather in another scene. Is it impractical and stupid? Quite possibly. Does the subsequent sex scene take full advantage of the costume for some Dom/sub barnyard roleplay? Also yes. This continues my point about designing beefy (heh) muscular guys, and how there's a world of difference between this and, like, Hawkeye or summer Ephraim/Dimitri/whoever.

Incidentally, this character also has an oversized dick to the point of straining disbelief and the MC's insides. If you're looking for the male equivalent of breasts so enormous they can barely be held in by barely-there tops, that would be giant dicks - and there's no way in hell that we'll ever see those in FEH, even in technically SFW bulge form.

Continuing with BLits's games, here's one from the upcoming Jock Studio.

It's a male boobs-and-butt pose, one that doesn't require the character to dislocate his spine! I chose this image because the pose and outfit choice is remarkably similar to that of the notorious Tharja Summer Scramble DLC pic that got censored outside of Japan. Jock Studio actually has a better instance of the same pose with a different character, one where the MC's horny dialogue even calls attention to the ampleness of those two elements; unfortunately, the character has his underwear off there so it's too horny for this post. Much like Tharja with Anna in the DLC, here the character is being surprised by someone walking in while they're changing and making comically lewd remarks about their body. The contextual difference is that, rather than being forced into a swimsuit, the character here is disrobing to film a pornographic scene, and is only surprised by the MC only just now learning that their club makes porn. Hilarity ensues in both cases, but JS's setup is ironically less voyeuristic despite the game's premise.

Finally, let's close things out with one last image from Coming Out on Top. Very borderline, but I've got a distinct point to make with this one.

Like a lot of media, gay dating sims often struggle with eroticized depictions of various types of men, among them fat, hairy, and middle-aged (or older). I believe the oldest human character with a stated age in this post is the bull guy, and he's merely in his 40s. But back to the image above, it takes full advantage of the size and age of the character on the right relative to the MC. His bulk takes up much of the frame, but it's clearly an intimate, protective embrace you'd expect of a bear daddy character. I point this out because larger and/or older male characters are often disregarded outright in FEH, or like Fargus recently they're paradoxically given more fanservice-y designs (Visible nipples and chest hair! In FEH!) presumably because the developers think that no one would look at them that way.

I think that's enough for now. The important thing to remember here is that sexual fanservice is more than simply degrees of nudity. It's about framing, angling, which body parts are emphasized, and when possible the surrounding circumstances and how they inform the character's eroticism. Is it deliberate, is it accidental...

...or is it just there to get you to gamble for your favorites?

[thatpodcastkid]

Magnus Archives Relisten 10, MAG 10

Do we think Jonny Sims has read Twilight?

Spoilers ahead

Facts: Statement of Trevor Herbert regarding his life as a self-proclaimed vampire hunter. Statement given July 10, 2010.

Statement Notes: I just love that Trevor's episode is right after Julia's. It really lets you see the wheels turning in Jonny's head as he planned out the series.

On my first listen, this was one of the statements I truly did not believe was true. The combination of Trevor's traumatic childhood, cancer, and admission that he killed a "non-vampire" made the whole thing seem like a complex fantasy. But on the second listen, I realized that is exactly how the horrors work. They specifically target vulnerable people so that their experiences will be dismissed or explained away by more "rational" people. You don't believe Trevor because you aren't supposed to.

Jon says he can't find the "vampire teeth" in the Archives or in the "Secure Containment Room" (Btw both "Archives" and "Secure Containment Room" are proper nouns in the transcript). Is this an early name for Artifact Storage or a subsection of it? It would make sense for the Institute to have a separate facility for the dangerous artifacts, but this raises questions regarding how "secure" this facility is. Assuming this is where the real artifacts like Leitners and the table are held, Jon can access it fairly easily at the end of season 2, but he's relatively high-ranking at the institute. Would Elias ever allow an outsider into the facility like he allows them into the library? Or would that violate his desire to hoard knowledge?

Character Notes: This statement is a "photocopy of a photocopy," which speaks to Gertrude's organization. Something had to have happened to the original, whether she destroyed it or Elias took it, but she had a backup. Knowing that Trevor Herbert is still active in monster hunting, she made another copy to preserve the information. Presumably, she was hoping Sasha would find it and be able to access Herbert when she became the Archivist, but instead it was found and dismissed by Jon.

This episode also establishes that Martin was there when the statement was taken. Many fans assume Martin was hired to work in the archives, but this statement was given SIX YEARS before Gertrude's death, meaning that he would have had to work in research or another facility before the archives. Also, he's worked at the institute for at least 8 years by the time he reveals he lied on his resume, meaning he was TWENTY-TWO when this statement was given and was told that Trevor Herbert died.

The rumor of Herbert's death raises other questions. Why would that story spread? It seems to be another part of Elias' long game. If Martin--who he specifically selected to eventually be on the archival staff--believed Herbert was dead and told Jon so, then Jon would not seek him out and put himself in danger too early. Additionally, he would not be able to find the skin book and speak with Gerry before the time was right. Elias needed everything to run on his schedule.

Entity Alignment: With Trevor, there is a definite Hunt alignment. His whole life is driven by the desire to seek out and kill vampires. It's become the core tenant of his identity and drives him to forsake all personal relationships and attachments, centering his life around the fear of vampires and the need to kill them. The need to eliminate his own fear is what leads to him becoming an avatar of fear itself.

But I struggle to find a clear connection to what fear the vampires are connected to. They could be Hunt avatars or aligned creatures themselves. They have a desire to find and destroy living things, mindlessly hunting. It would also make sense for a Hunt creature to draw in Herbert and turn him into a Hunt avatar, turning him into what he fears most. This tactic is seen throughout the series with multiple fears, but I am specifically reminded of the Hunt in MAG 112 as the book club turns against itself.

There is an element of the Flesh within the vampires, however. They turn humans into food, removing their identities and degrading them into their physical existence. A large portion of the Flesh is dedicated to removing any idea of a consciousness or soul and reminding us that we are meat, which the vampires seem to do effectively.

I also noticed connections to the Stranger in the vampires. While their ultimate actions don't match with the Stranger's modus operandi, their mannerisms are similar. The primary similarity is the fact that vampires don't speak, as if they "don't have a voicebox," yet they still manage to be understood. The Stranger draws people in with its apparently human attributes, and only when it's too late do victims realize something is off. So long as the vampires are understandable, victims don't realize the not talking is odd until it's too late. Furthermore, the first vampire Herbert meets offers him rotten fruit, and many Stranger-aligned creatures and avatars give strange gits as an attempt to form a human connection while still unsettling people (tooth apple, metal heart, etc.). The fruit made Trevor uncomfortable and afraid, but he didn't leave the old woman because he reasoned she was trying to be kind in a twisted way.

But I also wonder if the vampires are aligned at all. Trevor describes them as being driven only by the vague desire to feed. While this could signal a Hunt or Flesh alignment, they don't have a connection to the rituals of these entities nor their other avatars. In Mag 111, Gerry explains "What's out there doesn't care about blood," before correcting "Yeah, obviously except for the vampires." Again, the need to consume blood could align the vampires with the Hunt or Flesh, but they don't seem to be driven by the desire to cause fear. If the vampires are fueled by an actual, physical need to consume blood for survival, could they accurately be associated with a fear-driven entity? Or are they just another monstrous thing that exists in this universe?

[dreamyyesenia]

Simblr Bingo! Prompt: send an ask to a storyteller about their inspirations

OK so here it goes I love your always keep simming save! Where do you come up with the stories you tell?

Oh love this!

Tbh I’m not quite sure, I’ve just always been a storyteller and I invent a story for everything I do. Example: Studying in uni, I had to study anatomy and I spun a story in my head and only that made it possible for me to keep it in my mind. 😅 Suddenly the arteries would come alive in my head and talk to each other, the cells would speak too and I’d see the entire organism functioning in my head 😁 I’d think of that when I was cooking or doing a workout. Yes, I definitely have a tendency to come up with (possibly weird lol) stories

Apart from my weird brain, I read a LOT. Since I was 5 and non stop. I wouldn’t say that any of my stories are based on a book or series but reading - especially fantasy- has helped me understanding how to write in a way that makes sense… (to me 😂). I used to watch series a lot too but I always prefer books.

I mostly read in English so I also prefer writing in English, though it’s not my mother tongue. It’s my storytelling language 😄

Lastly, simblr is very motivating to me. I think it’s why I feel so comfortable here. Everyone here spins stories about their pixels and reading your stories is very helpful because I just feel safe sharing my stories. 🫶🏻

I hope I could properly answer your question! Also: I could ask you the same! I love your stories very much and am always eager for the next part! 🩷

[jonnyparable]

More Whimsical Worlds

Because my life can always use more Old Timey Whimsy, my favourite Sims worlds are all getting new names and makeovers. A redecorated and madeover Windenburg, now Port Cobbleton, is still taking shape. I'm happiest with how the modern waterfront area looks now. I had always found the original tacky beyond all reason and am so happy to share that by layering some parts of the Medieval Windenburg mod with the Timeless mod, I've managed to make it look a little more whimsical and fictional, like something from My Time at Portia or Final Fantasy 9. The town will serve as the main hood, so to speak, with the other worlds acting as places to visit, although they are all so cute in their own way now, they're gonna get their own save file so I can play out stories in each of them. Theoretically, anyway. Its almost June, do I really believe I'll actually play the game at this point before Paralives comes out? Who knows?

Anyway, Moonwood Mills, now creatively renamed Moonwood Village, is shaping up to be a very cute little medieval hamlet. I love looking at medieval Sims gameplay, (my god do I miss looking through plumbob keep) although I probably won't do it in earnest. So alluding to it here in one world is the best I can manage for now. And lastly, like every good millennial Simmer, I've just never moved on from Makin Magic, so Glimmerbrook gets a very Magic Town inspired makeover! Of course the sheer madness and wonder of seeing Magic Town and all its kooky residents for the first time will never happen again (Vicky Vampiress almost made me straight I swear) but with enough red and yellow wallpaper and non functional fairy lights, it just might.

[absolutebl]

Hi!

I love your Blog and love to read your takes in everything. So thank you so much for all your Posts and thoughts about the industry etc.

Here is my question: i came across one of your posts where you wrote "actually gay, not bl gay" (it was a Post about Jojo and Only Friends) and while I FELT that I TOTALLY understood what you meant and instantly was like "yes 100% clear" Id love to read and learn more about what this means exactly and why some bls feel quite heteronormative while some dont. Would you mind explain the take on "actually gay Not Bl gay" a little bit? And why some Shows feel just more queer than others (besides the unbelievable stupid "gay only for you" trope lol)

Thank you so much and I hope you will have a nice day!

actually gay, not bl gay

There's actually quite a discourse on this right now mostly originating with @waitmyturtles and @wen-kexing-apologist (Post @killiru references above is here.)

I tend to mostly talk about this in broad brush strokes as a queer lens.

But there's a great ven diagram (which of course I've lost the link to) that approaches the idea of and queer lens by tunneling into its approach and intent:

about queers

by queers

for queers

How do different BLs intersect in different ways with these three elements?

When I said "actually gay, not BL gay" I was alluding to this discourse. Specifically the "about queers" category of BL.

There are characters in BL who read as genuinely gay (as in belonging to the queer family of this terrible reality we live in) and then there are those that seem more performative (to exist in a bubble of fantasy were sexual identity is almost unimportant, only the romance matters, everything is safe sweetness & light). For some queers this can read as manipulative or even exploitive (because it is inauthentic to most queer experiences). For me, it's fine... even desirable. I like the safe bubble. I enjoy the utter delusional escapism of it. Sometimes I will call this sanitized gay. (Since it is designed to make gay palatable to non-gay identified folks e.g. seme/uke.)

A sanitized gay BL may be unintentional but it is nested in origin yaoi and mm romance whose target market has never been the queer community, and whose authors have historically not been members of it, either.

Let's be frank, we queers are generally a terrible target market, we don't have enough spending power - especially not for a piece of pop culture as niched as BL. And as creators we really want our voices to be heard (obvs), which makes us produce content that those unsympathetic or uncaring find uncomfortable. (Yes, I know, fuck them, but also, they have all the money and the entertainment industry is a numbers game.)

So in the arena of office romances, just as an example:

actually gay = The New Employee

sanitized gay = Our Dating Sim

actual gay = Step By Step

sanitized gay = A Boss And a Babe

All of the above have the same tropes, archetypes, and premises. All of them are BL. Some are just... queerer feeling than others. And the characters in those shows (Step by Step and The New Employee) read as more "actually gay."

This has nothing to do with the actors, chemsitry, or how much we may personally like the show (Our Dating Sim is one of my absolute favorite BLs). It has to do with how closely those CHARACTERS intersect with the reality of queerness as we inhabit it today. It will be lots of little touches given to the drama by director and script:

language use,

surrounding friendships (and friendship style),

mannerisms and physicality (specially body language around straights vs other queer characters),

makeup & wardrobe,

facial expressions,

surrounding queer-coded behaviors by side characters,

layers of story nuance that indicate a complicated queer-driven back story.

Markers of specifically a queer identity are given to the leads.

These kinds of BLs are satisfying the "about queers" category. ("By queers" can be difficult to extract because IRL outting is involved. "For queers" is the rarest kind of BL, because making something specifically for us often alienates the majority of the rest of viewership/market. I could be argued that SCOY did this.)

I'm sure I've missed things, but I hope that kinda makes sense?

By/For/About discourse from @wen-kexing-apologist here:

Parts 1

Part 2

Part 3

I'm indebted to them for the links!

More Queer Stuff from Yours Truly

BL Linguistics & Queer Identity - I Am Gay versus I Like Men 

Will BL Get More Honestly Queer? 

Queer lens (from the director) and chemistry (from the actors) in BL (A Tale of Thousand Stars)

Touch & Daisy in Secret Crush On You - Queer Coded Language and 3rd Gender Identity

BL in Taiwan & Gay Marriage

Debating Queerbaiting in BL ( + Devil Judge... is it queerbaiting?) 

BL Actors and the Assumption of Queerness - outing actors, coming out, being out, more:  Is that BL actor actually queer?

So is it really fetishization? straight women loving bl 

Some BL fans are sasaengs, and it’s a problem in this fandom 

BLs That Highlight How Society Treats Queers

10 BLs That Are Honest to a Queer Experience 

(source)

[xhellkittyx]

Fantasy Eyes N2 - Mara (Non Defaults)

TSR EXCLUSIVE

Fantasy inspired colorful eyes with reptile like pupil and black sclera. These eyes come in several vibrant colors. Some multicolored options and some solid color ones. These eyes are found in eye color where eye presets are also found. They do not override EA colors, instead they are added as extra colors.

- 29 Colors - Unisex - All Ages - All Occults - Found in ; Eye Color - HQ Compatible - Previews are taken with HQ mod -

You can have more than one file of my eyes in eye color. I will make sure they do not override EA colors, or each other. I can not make any guarantee for non default eyes from other creators overriding mine, or the other way around.

Want to know what HQ mod is? Or maybe you want to know how to install it yourself? Find all info and all you need to start using HQ mod ✨HERE✨

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@sclub-privee : Skin overlay @noodlescc : Skin Tone @kijiko-sims : 3D Eyelashes @remussirion : Eyeshadow, Lips @angissi : Eyebrows Me : Hair Retexture , Eyeliner (CC not listed I do not remember who made)

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Please respect my Terms of Use, It’s pretty simple. If you have questions, feel free to message me on any of my social media

[deathsdue]

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing! Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together. template credit: thanks neffi!!

Name: Lailah

Pronouns: She/Her, They/Them

Birthday (no year): 9/12

Where are you from? What is your time zone? West Coast, USA

How long is your roleplay experience? Almost 20 years

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? My first RP experience was in high school where we had a binder we passed around in the hallway between class lol I went on to forums, docs, email, mmos, and at some point tumblr and discord.

How were you introduced to TOA? I'd been missing the Tumblr RP experience and decided to search for an FE group and bam

Do you have any pets? I do! My black kitty, my baby boy who drools and meows a lot, Binx

What is your favorite time of year and why? Autumn when it's cooler but not too freezing and the leaves are pretty

What is your IRL occupation? QA tester for a video game company

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? Besides writing, playing games, reading, occasionally drawing, music, comics, collecting figures and such

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? Tales of, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Zelda, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Persona, Harvest Moon, farm sims in general, Metal Gear Solid, the list honestly just goes on and on and on

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon? ahahaha ok the list doesn't actually go that far. I didn't get that into pokemon. I do think they're cute but I just didn't get into the franchise. That said, I have plushies of chimchar, vulpix, and eevee so that probably says something

Tell us some funfacts and trivia about yourself! - When I worked at a dental office, I almost set the place on fire. The dentist was really nice about it tho and eventually he even wanted me to stay and get trained as a dental assistant - I have a low spicy tolerance but I'm really good with cajun spices (likely from growing up in Texas) - I'm in the credits of games that you've heard about (I won't say what) - I have a horrible sense of smell

How did you get into Fire Emblem? My friend was actually really into PoR but I didn't get into it until Awakening came out.

What Fire Emblem games have you played? (Note: I have not beaten all of these) Genealogy, Sacred Stones, Awakening, Fates, Three Houses, Engage, TMS, Heroes

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games? Awakening & Sacred Stones

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! Frederick, Eirika, Ephraim, Gerome, Seteth

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! Frederick lol I'm such a Frederick simp. I love how caring and protective he is, that he knits, isn't afraid of showing affection, just generally wholesome imo

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 Frederick 😳

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: Frederick (are you noticing a trend) and still Frederick - Fates: Yukimura, but probably Shura if I did it again - Three Houses: Hanneman haha I'd try a different one if I went back but Hanneman is my favorite - Engage: Mauvier, and still him

Favorite Fire Emblem class? rogues!

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? Some kind of archer probably

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? Golden Deer all the way!

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent?

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? Firene probably

How do you pronounce TOA? To-ah

Current TOA muses? Gerome & Mikoto!

Past TOA muses? none right now

Who was your first TOA muse? Best boy Gerome

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? It seems like…tsundere types tend to get me, or the ones that have lived a long time and have complicated pasts. but I have others that don't fit those trends too

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? tbh my indie has a wide range of character types and I try to not write characters that are too similar. However, I guess I tend to not write types that are Too extroverted

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? I enjoy all types but I suppose very emotional scenes are fun for me, whether it's angst or positive emotions

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? for Mikoto, I just want to write her with her children and also, tbh, finding a new love haha I'm in no rush for it but it'd fun if it happened. I'd also love to see her on the battlefield protecting others

Favorite TOA-related memories? Happyland was a blast to write with everyone and I adore the connections it brought so much. I can't wait to throw Mikoto into an event, she deserves it

Present or past tense? I think my habit is past but I try to match others so I go for present. if you see my flipping tenses I'm so sorry haha

Normal size text, small text, no preference? I default to small text but I'll match my writing partner, or use regular in case I'm concerned about readability for others

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉  ahahaha uhmmmmm if I can, Eirika, but if not then probably Peony or maybe even Rhys or Mozu. I write so many FE characters that I will never run out of ones to pick lol I've also written all of these characters at some point so I love to see how others write them too

[dumbass-duo-showdown]

ROUND 2

So I’m back! Bracket time!

Reminder the time zone being used is CET

APPLE BRACKET

Aka Cartoons, Anime, and games associated with such (fire emblem and ace attorney)

Day 1 22/4, finished

Part 1: 5pm

Reigen Arakata (mob psycho 100) vs Corazon (one piece), finished

Lord Garmadon (Lego ninjago) vs Heinz Doofenshmirtz (Phineas and Ferb), finished

Iroh (avatar: the last airbender) vs Bob Blecher (bob’s burgers), finished

Iruka Umino (naruto) vs Darkwing Duck (darkwing Duck), finished

Part 2: 8pm

Hakoda (avatar; the last airbender) vs Ice King (adventure time), finished

Greg Universe (Steven universe, he won an extra battle because I forgot him at first) vs Splinter (teenage mutant ninja turtles), finished

Bruno Bucciarati (JoJo’s bizarre adventure) vs Greil (fire emblem: path or radiance), finished

Professor Kukui (Pokémon) vs Phoenix Wright (ace attorney), finished

Day 2: 24/4, finished

Part 1: 5pm

David Evans (Inazuma 11) vs Loid Forger (spy x family), finished

Tim Lockwood (cloudy with a chance of meatballs) vs Oscar Proud (the proud family), finished

Shouta Aizawa (my hero academia) vs Donald Duck (ducktales), finished

Sailor Uranus (sailor moon) vs Skipper (penguins of Madagascar), finished

Part 2: 8pm

Sully (monsters ink) vs Kouhei Inuzuka (sweetness and lighting), finished

Alibert (wakfu) vs Meta Knight (Kirby), finsihed

Gru (despicable me) vs Zenkichi Hasegawa (persona), finished

Kanan Jarrus (Star Wars: rebels) vs Mr Ping (kung fu panda), finished

BAPELSIN BRACKET

Aka live action media, books, and video games & graphic novels not associated with anime (so no light novels or tie ins)

Day 1: 26/4 5pm, finished

Bobby Nash (9 1 1 on fox) vs Benjamin Sisko (Star Trek, deep Space 9), finished

Subject Delta (bioshock) vs Atticus Finch (how to kill a mockingbird), finished

Paul Blofis (Percy Jackson) vs Gomez Addams (the Addams family), finished

Lee Everett (telltale’s the walking dead) vs Waymond Wang (everywhere everything all at once), finished

Part 2: 8pm

Joel Miller (the last of us) vs Calvin’s dad (Calvin and Hobbes), finished

Pyrrha Dve (the locked tomb) vs Common Wubbox (my singing monsters), finished

Doc Louis (punch out!!) vs Riki (xenoblade), finished

Bob Cratchit (a Christmas carol) vs Mo Folchart (inkheart), finished

Day 2, 28/4

Part 1: 5pm

Alfred Pennyworth (Batman) vs Asgore Dreemurr (undertale), finished

Dave Seville (Alvin and the chipmunks) vs Chimney Han (9 1 1), finished

Glamrock Freddy (fnaf: security breach) vs Bail Organa (Star wars) , finished

Kim Dokja (omniscient Reader’s viewpoint) vs Hal Wilkerson (Malcom in the middle), finished

Part 2: 8pm

Lee Scoresby (his dark materials) vs Dream (sandman) , finished

Thrushpelt (warrior cats) vs Barret Wallace (final fantasy 7), finished

Domingo Montoya (the princess bride) vs Terry Jeffords (Brooklyn 99), finished

Rupert Giles (Buffy) vs Pollination Tech 9 Smith (the sims 2: strangetown), finished

QUICK QUESTIONS

WHY THIS PAIR UP? I’m a bringer if chaos, also it was random

What time zone? CET!

How do I do propaganda? Well first you reblog with a text post, don’t put the propaganda in the tags. Or send me an ask! I will make sure to reblog it with the right tags

Hey I saw you made a mistake, what should i do? First, don’t use anon asks to correct my spelling and if I misuse slang. Just tell me directly. If it is 2 hours after a poll has launched, I will redo it immediately. But I will write down the mistakes I make and correct them later on

CODE OF CONDUCT

Previous battles

Main Rounds

ROUND 1

Second chance/dad mansion break in

ROUND 1

The only way to show how the battles (second chance) will happen cuz it’s random AN EXTRA NON DAD BATTTLE?!?!?!?!?!?

[chaoscheebs]

So I've gotten into visual novels a bit more recently, do you have any recommendations? I've been a gamer all my life but vns are kind of a blind spot for me. Maybe some of the more popular ones on the DS and a handful of PC ones are about all I know.

Most of the ones I've played are adult ones (i.e. have sex scenes in them), but I can give some recs if that's not an issue.

All Ages:

-Jack Jeanne for the Switch is a really solid one and for something that includes hiding the protag's gender (she's in an all-boys school for theater), it doesn't fall into weird/horny tropes about it? Like no "oh no someone walked into me changing oh me oh my" nonsense, for example. Plus there's some characters that read very trans/gender non-conforming and I am living for it.

It's very slice-of-life, very pretty, and if you like/can work with stat-building dating sims and the rhythm game sections, I'd recommend it!

Guys Who Like Ladies (not all-ages):

--Princess Waltz is like my favorite VN of all time, it's so fucking good. It's about this (seemingly) normal dude who ends up entangled in this other magical world's tournament to pick a bride for the prince of a country in said other world, and boy howdy for something that is aimed at straight male audiences it is REALLY GAY (affectionate/positive).

The main "girl"? The prince. Who reallyreally comes off as a trans dude. It is awesome.

There's all sorts of cool fights, girls in cool/cute outfits, the "token loli" acts her actual age and is probably one of the most mature of the lot (god i love Suzushiro), it has Lun-Lun, the second best proper girl, yaoi fangirls, and a cute lil' dragon man.

I will provide a quick warning tho': it contains (accidental, they had NO IDEA beforehand) incest, potential adoptive sibling banging, and depending on how you see Chris, potentially misgendering. :c

If you can get past that, tho', it's fantastic and has a bangin' soundtrack.

--9-nine is a urban fantasy-ish multiverse-spanning mystery series in 5 parts: 4 for each girl and one extra epilogue game that wraps up the loose ends nicely. It also contains cool action scenes, has a great cast of characters, and even makes a Wild Arms 2 reference, which cements it in my heart forever.

Each game is a route, and while you could skip one and still get the story (and you might want to, one of the games focuses on the protag's main full-blooded sister who, uh, yeah, they eventually bang), but each part connects to the next and gives you more information to piece together, and it all comes together wonderfully. ;A;

Also, the male lead has a face, is voiced, and has a personality, which is a rare triple-crown in the VN world when it comes to het-focus stuff.

9-nine also has an "all-ages" cut, which can be found on Steam, if that makes a difference.

QUEER SHIT FUCK YEAH:

--Ne no Kami is a yuri VN which is in two parts (with a loosely-connected "prequel" that is plot-light called Sacrament of the Zodiac and has a successor plot-heavy series that has one part out called Watamari, all of which are yuri stores) and IT. IS. SO. FUCKING. GOOD. It and Princess Waltz battle for my heart for the number 1 spot.

The protag is a "normal" girl named Len, who gets drawn into this secret war against the ayakashi thanks to a mix of her childhood friend coming back into her life and her parents up and disappearing on her, and it gets... the actual images are never graphic in the violence sense, but it gets a bit brutal in the fight scenes. Which fucking rule.

It's a good balance of slice of life and battles (and girls kissing other girls of course) and the music fucking rules.

There is also an "all-ages" cut on Steam.

--No,Thank You!! is a BL VN, and it is also really good, but really fucking heavy and I have to give several caveats before recommending it. There is references to (and at least one on-screen instance of) rape, references to in-universe snuff films, non-consensual body modification to the point of body horror, drugs, and child trafficking, tho' everything mentioned past the rape is never shown on-screen.

If your can get past all that, you're in for a wild fucking ride. Haru is the (openly bi!!!!!) protagonist, who seemingly got amnesia in an accident saving this middle-aged man, and so the middle aged man, who is the protag of his own story that's interwoven in the background as he searches for his missing son and dips his toes into some Serious Shit(tm) as a result, sees to it that Haru has shelter and a job until he recovers.

Also, yakuza and a secret underground society that does Seriously Fucked-Up Shit(tm) are all interwoven into the plot, especially the latter.

Also Hiroyuki is best boy I make the rules.

--------

Anyway, that should be a pretty good starter kit. I'd also throw in Yume Miru Kusuri, which is a more grounded in realism story, but also it's really meta and not a good starter VN (... although it was MY starter VN, please give me a route for the canon gay dude in a fan disc I am begging you). It also. Um. Deals with heavy subjects (bullying, drug use...). So maybe see how you feel about these before that.

[thelonglist]

Masterlist - BNHA fan fic recs Part 7

Hello again! My friend was looking for fics in my bookmarks the other day; I have never felt so honored.  Make sure to leave a comment and kudo on all these lovely works. Enjoy!

Here are the links for Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five & Part Six

For reference:

L - longer fic (50,000+ words)

O - One shot

& - ongoing

# - Complete

! - favorites

Thank you!

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

Various Non-Canon world AUs

Rebuilding with Shattered Components - O # Android AU tododeku

The Great Royal Abduction - O # Fantasy AU Dragon Izuku

Boats Against the Current - & 1920′s AU

One out of the Hoard - O# zombie apocalypse au

Finding Life During The Apocalypse - & zombie apocalypse

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

DFO

All the little things  - O#

Birdcage - # demon au Second/third/first

All for One: AWOL Villain and PTA King - O #

Project: Disaster - H

Left To Rot - O# lots of pain here would be in whump if it wasn't dfo

! I have decided that I'm a ghost now - O# AI Yoichi & Izuku

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

Crack

Mr. Underground Takes Over - O# Aizawa takes over Mic’s radio show

Alien BFF - O # crack Aliens Ashido & Izuku

Vending Machine - & Izuku has a dating sim quirk

Please Be A Hero (Series) - O # Villain Izuku Crack

! A man's best friend (Series)- O #/& Izuku has a Noumu dog

An Unconventional Reunion - O # Crack fem Izuku & Shigaraki

"Headline: 'Villain' Izuku Backed By Idol, Hero All Might" one shots (series) - &

Weaponized competitiveness - O # Rody & Deku

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

Whump with happy endings

lose it all (with eyes wide open) - O # Bakugo/Midoriya kidnapping

! but somehow i'll see it through  - O # long shot obedience quirk

Some Die Young - O # Iida centric dead midoriya izuku

Don't Be Afraid - &

Boost  - O #

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

Whump with sad endings

Crack in the Wall - O # Izuku can see through the 4th wall

once one begins, there are only endings - O # MC Death

Gomen'nasai  - O # MC Death Izuku & shigaraki

! Oh Jailbird, Sing Me to Sleep - O # Quirk!Izuku & Hawks

! Friendship is a Fickle Thing  - O # quirkless Izuku & Shinsou Hitoshi owch

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

Whump with inconclusive endings

I'm So Sick of Myself - O # Nomu Izuku

A Pretty Heavy Covenant to Make With Someone Powerless - O # human trafficking

Blood Stains The Skin Red - # Midoriya and Bakugo patricide

! for want of a nail - O # longshot human experimentation

anniversary - O # Dead Izuku Bakugo-centric

Singularity - O # Eldritch Izuku

! A deal is a deal - O# Demon Izuku & Iida Tenya

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

The obligatory time travel corner

How the Other Half Lives - # dimension travel villain Izuku & hero izuku

! do not weep for me, for soon i will be gone - & time travel fix it

Puzzle Pieces - & post-apocalypse dimension travel izuocha 

New Game Plus (Ultra!)  - &

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

Quirky fics (miscellaneous)

Yoichi Shigaraki: The Sociopathic Hero - O # 

If All Might Was Marginally More Self Aware - O # 

Alone for 10 thousand years. - & Quirkless OP Izuku 

Thoughts Are Loud - & hit by a truth Quirk

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

Quirk!Izuku

The Dream Rover - O # Dream World

More Than One - & Izuku has a sentient quirk

Izuku Dislikes Quests - & gamer quirk Izuku

In for a Dollar, In for a Dime - & probability quirk Izuku

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

Crossovers

A Hero Anywhere - & AOT Dimension Travel

In a world, other than our own. - & AOT Dimension Travel

! Black Rabbit: Villain with a Crush - & Pure Villain AU tododeku

Home with full of secrets and patches, you know?  - # SpyxFamily AU

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

Haunted OFA

The Quirk Singularity - O # possession

Excitation (series) - O #/&

! Candor - # L HPSC Sucks Psychological Trauma

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

Shippy Shit 2.0

The Dragon, the Knight, and The Maiden - O # fairytale au Izuocha

The Great Sports Festival Seduction - O # Tododeku

courage to spare  - O # Izuocha

you‘ve always worn your flaws upon your sleeve (and i’ve always buried mine deep beneath the ground) - O # Personality Swap Tododeku

A Mission of Bad Luck and Tangerines & Quirkless Izuku Izuocha 

When The Silence Grows Too Loud And The Singing Stills (When All Is Left To Hear Is Your Heart Beating Next To Mine) - # Soulmate au Shindeku

Rebuilding with Shattered Components - O # Android AU tododeku

! Black Rabbit: Villain with a Crush - & Pure Villain AU tododeku

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

Ghost AUs

Ashes, Ashes(We all Fall Down) - & Ghost Deku

Death Can't Kill a Hero - & Ghost Deku

Lie still and break (For a dream’s sake)  - & Comatose Izuku & Aizawa

[morrigan-sims]

resolution tag

I was tagged by @lazysunjade and @salemssimblr. Ty both!!

What's your resolution for your simblr?

To post at least a couple of story posts this year!! I haven't made any progress towards making new ones since I posted the last ones, but I'm determined to get story posts out this year, even if it's only one or two. (I'd love to do at least one a month, but I know that's not going to happen.) Aside from my story, I want to continue working on my editing and keep getting better at that and having more fun with it. I love editing, and I love seeing what I can do.

What do you want from The Sims franchise?

Frankly, I want them to be done with ts4. Leave it to the modders to fix it. Let the perma-paywallers head over to the next sims game. But I know that's not going to happen. I'm tired of updating my game, and things being broken, and shitty mediocre packs coming out for a game I don't even actually play. But even if I did, the packs aren't worth it.

Any other New Year's resolutions?

I've never really been one to make them, seeing as I never follow through with any self-imposed goals or deadlines. I need external pressure in order to get anything done. (Hence why I never post my story, despite desperately wanting to progress with it.) It would be nice to beat my 57 books I read last year. (although seeing as I literally only read when I was home from college, I'd say 57 is pretty good.) Oh, and more importantly, I would love to actually write some stuff for my non-sims writing projects. Maybe finally get my shit together and decide on characters and do some worldbuilding for my "high fantasy wip" project. And ofc, I want to keep playing DnD and see how my characters grow! I'd also love to give DM-ing another shot this year, because despite how chaotic and sometimes stressful it is, I do love it.

I'm not gonna tag anyone, but if you want to do this, feel free to say I tagged you!

[thatpodcastkid]

Magnus Archives Relisten 10, MAG 10 Vampire Killer, Spoiler-Free Version

Do we think Jonny Sims has read Twilight?

Spoiler-free version of my MAG 20 analysis

Facts: Statement of Trevor Herbert regarding his life as a self-proclaimed vampire hunter. Statement given July 10, 2010.

Statement Notes: On my first listen, this was one of the statements I truly did not believe was true. The combination of Trevor's traumatic childhood, cancer, and admission that he killed a "non-vampire" made the whole thing seem like a complex fantasy. But on the second listen, I realized that is exactly how the forces of horror in TMA work. They specifically target vulnerable people so that their experiences will be dismissed or explained away by more "rational" people. You don't believe Trevor because you aren't supposed to.

Jon says he can't find the "vampire teeth" in the Archives or in the "Secure Containment Room" (Btw both "Archives" and "Secure Containment Room" are proper nouns in the transcript). Is this an early name for Artifact Storage or a subsection of it? It would make sense for the Institute to have a separate facility for the dangerous artifacts, but this raises questions regarding how "secure" this facility is if outsiders can access it and things regularly go missing.

Character Notes: This statement is a "photocopy of a photocopy," which speaks to Gertrude's organization. Something had to have happened to the original, but she had a backup, and then a backup for the backup. Even though the archives are in disarray, there are still redundancies and emergency plans built into it.

This episode also establishes that Martin was there when the statement was taken. Many fans assume Martin was hired to work in the archives, but this statement was given SIX YEARS before Gertrude's death, meaning that he would have had to work in research or another facility before the archives. This seems kind of irrelevant, but any cannon timeline on this utterly unorganized show drives me bananas.

Also, a man fully died in the institute. Just gone. Went to sleep on the couch and didn't wake up.

But Jon never knew about it.

Either Martin worked there before him and Jon was just never told about what happened, or he was working at the institute and no one told him. Both of these options seem really unrealistic because, if Jon was working in the institute, I imagine everyone would be talking about the man who died in the middle of a statement and some kind of corporate email would have gone out. Even if Jon wasn't working in the institute at the time, it seems like the kind of story that newbies would be let in on, if not by Martin than by Tim or any other researcher.