#i mean more like pc insert

[fadewalking]

Im actually writing solavellan(ish) fic rn for you guys jsyk

[shorthaltsjester]

i could talk a lot about the reasons that i think vox machina as pcs is actually a perfect insertion into the c3 narrative right now but the one that’s really sticking out to me is the diversity in the opinions on the gods that the party has and the lack of influence their individual opinions have on their commitment to save the world. because with bh they’re all pretty ambivalent or anti-god with fcg and now braius being outliers, but both of those cases are still very unique and particular ones: fcg had his cleric powers prior to his religiosity and so it was largely just about the personal meaning he found in the changebringer but he still ended up having divine exchanges with her and braius is in the fjord stone school of being a willing child of god divorce. and with those of bh who dislike the gods it’s for completely valid reasons with completely invalid application of their personal woes to a universal scale. but in vox machina we see the way that experience with people that the gods matter to beyond just the magical exchange and experience with the weight that denying the rise of a new betrayer left on the shoulders of the gods they aided. i have to say that beyond the fact that i am just fond of vox machina as a party, it is also incredibly refreshing to see people who have diverse opinions about the gods but also actually engaged with opinions (a word which here refers to taking seriously, and not using confirmation bias) beyond those of their insular party.

a while ago ashton with his insistently short sight said he’d like to see the gods pray to mortals — something they’ve always been doing and is in fact a definitive part of their established metaphysical status in exandria — and vox machina is taking on the role in the c3 narrative of proving (once again) that has been the case, but they differ from bh because where bh (as a group) tends to deny the pleas from the gods unless it already serves or proves what they’ve assumed to be true about the world and the gods, vm (as a gorup) took seriously that the gods might have something new to introduce to them. i mean that’s obvious in scanlan and vex, both of whom became champions of gods they hadn’t really even considered in a serious vein prior to speaking to them. and scanlan very much takes on the label of ioun’s champion as a job to be fulfilled in the specific battle, but with vex being pelor’s champion has more significant weight tied to whitestone becoming her home and the fact that she belongs to a community that does, very much, take seriously the symbolic and literal power of the dawn, and she admits she hadn’t really realized the people-ness of the gods themselves until she met the everlight and the dawnfather.

but from the very same community, with a more historical basis in it, we get percy, who is very much uninterested in gods, until of course he might find value in an exchange with them. or, in one of my favourite moments from percy, until he is given hope that his family still exists somewhere beyond his memory of them, even if bound in the divine books of a god that calls him out on his selfish habits. vox machina also has keyleth who is pretty anti-god, not to the degree of ‘let’s kill them’ that we’ve seen in bh, but even when facing them directly, she wasn’t subtle about how little she cares for them, especially when offset by the people that matter much more to her. vm has pike who is the spearhead of the everlight’s return to power, they have grog who fucks with the stormlord’s teachings even if he doesn’t deal with the god part all that much. there’s a multiplicity of god-to-mortal relationships in vox machina that is diverse in a way that bh certainly isn’t, and i think that allows a really interesting deepening of what’s at stake. because, of course, their focus is getting vax out of the orb, but there’s a weight they all carry regarding what happens to the world if it loses the gods, especially if the way they go is through the machinations of a ancient elven jackass.

and i mean it’s a jokey moment but i think an exchange that’s really illustrative of why it’s so nice to get vm who are certain about their stances about the gods and who don’t have to discuss the philosophical implications of their actual lived and material reality is the one between vex and keyleth where they’re discussing stopping predathos and vex jokes that ‘hey maybe predathos gets out and just eats the matron, surely that’d be fine’ and keyleth laughs with her but then they both kind of step out of that and are still committed to fighting predathos. because as keyleth emphasizes in her speech, exandria belongs to a collective, one made up of people who both hate and love the gods and though vex and keyleth both hate one god in particular, they have the awareness to treat that as their own issue, not one worth risking exandria to solve. anyway. this isn’t super well put and maybe i’ll elaborate some other time but i’ve seen a lot of people being bitter about vox machina showing up (which is their right!) but saying they’re only there in ways that detract from the narrative (i obviously disagree) so i just wanted to put into words why i think that’s wrong (though to be clear i don’t doubt that the fact that vm is cr’s personal blorbos plays a significant hand in the fact that vm showed up, they just also are succeeding (to me) at having a narrative purpose as well)

[listleven]

Inducing PC vs your power

You can manifest a wish book that grants every desire you write in it You can manifest a new face You can manifest a cookie

I don’t think you understand the weight of this title. There’s no logic if you assume it’s possible than it is. That means if you want to manifest an entire list of desires it has the same gravity than one singular affirmation. 16 desires = 1 desire. Because there is no logic it is just how it is. You are the one that puts resistance too it. You are the one that decides it’s harder because it’s multiple things. Have we forgotten this is your reality? You make the rules. If that’s what you think then that’s exactly how it will happen.

I was looking at the difference of stuff people manifest when inducing pure consciousness and regular manifesting and I noticed something that should be brought to light. You guys are a lot more care free with your manifestations in your void lists than in general. You can manifest literally anything you want. You want a wish book that grants your wish as soon as you write it down? A unicorn that shape shifts into a dog so no one will ever know? A door to another world like Coraline? An app that takes you to your desired reality? A friend who believes in LOA? You can have it. All of it. This is the type of stuff people will put in their void lists. Now I’m not sayin it as a bad thing. Do what you want. I just want to debunk why this is.

People find it more possible to get it when they are PC. When manifesting something like a safe word to take you into another world it’s easier to believe inducing PC will make it more possible than assuming. Because you would have to affirm the safe word whether the 3d conforms or not you have to not care or control your thoughts to that level. It kind of feels like gaslighting yourself when it’s not. You internally shifted when you said that safe word your external doesn’t matter. But then again what’s the point of the sw it was supposed to take you there physically as well as internally and I get it it’s hard to live in the end when their are situations like this in which you don’t know how to live in the end.

Let go. If you honestly had your desires would really be affirming 24/7 for it. Like actually. Don’t you have other things to do. I think you’ll find if you apply what I said above you will stop caring about your desires you might even resent them but that won’t stop them from being yours if they already inevitably are. Maybe you do need to affirm 24/7 to destroy subconscious beliefs that stop you from assuming with ease. I’ll make a separate post on how it’s easy to remove subconscious beliefs and how you guys overcomplicate it. But seriously you have what you want stop being so jittery imagination should be the goal reprogram your mind to think like that you don’t have to do so much you’ll end up doing it from lack. All you have to do is not go back on yourself. And leave it at that. Or make your own rules.

By putting all your trust in PC you've put it on a pedestal have with-holded power from yourself if you don't have to do anything to manifest as PC then you don't have to do anything to manifest without it.

The advice I give to people who struggle with comprehending any of the previous information is make your own rules. frustrated with all of what I said in the above right? make your own rules then. You are the one making this hard on yourself. Label it rules of manifesting.

Ex. of rules you can make

Doubting DOESN’T affect your manifestation being yours.

Wavering DOESN’T affect your desire being yours.

You manifest instantly.

Your notebook which you named ( insert name ) grants you every wish you write down no matter what not even your thoughts can change it because it becomes inevitable.

The more you dont believe in the rules the more real they are and the more instant your manifestations are

Despite any limiting beliefs my desire are inevitable

Literally anything you want.

Be delusional about it. Know your rules are how manifesting works. Know it’s how you manifest. DON’T GO BACK ON IT. Like who gives a fuck if your 3d didn’t show you your desire write it down in your magical notebook and there it’s inevitable. Assume those rules are true. And they will be despite any limiting beliefs. You can if you want apply a method to this going to sleep affirming these rules are true. Don’t let your past beliefs test you, if you decided it will work then it willl. Don’t make this hard on yourself assume reacting to the 3d DOESN’T make a difference. Now that you know this apply it. Get your dog in disguise unicorn.

I got a concerned follower the other day ask me about multiple people assuming otherwise cancelling out your own assumption. It doesn’t matter how many people are telling you otherwise if you assume that none of them matter then they don’t. They aren’t above you. Literally just assume it doesn’t matter you are the most powerful operant. The collective doesn’t overpower your own assumptions. In fact you assumed them to say otherwise in the first place whether you knew it or not. Change your assumptions. And watch them unfold. You have the power not them.

~ With love, Jyspire

[cinnbar-bun]

Straw Hats- Reversed AU HCs

AU: In which YOU are the character of a very famous franchise, and they are regular people who are fans of your series.

Note: GN!Reader, crack, very unserious

Luffy

Thinks you’re neat! Super cool!

People think he doesn’t really “get” you and just likes you for your awesome powers and/or cool appearance, but he drops like an innocent yet profound tidbit about you that shows he really is thinking of you.

Honestly probably only has a bootleg figure of you courtesy of Ace. It’s goofy as hell but he adores it.

Maybe has one of those printed graphic tees.

Ace and Sabo joke about his love for you but then Luffy throws his slippers at them.

If he sees anything with you on it, he’s just gushing over it.

Loves finding funny comics with you online.

Zoro

Guy who likes you for your powers.

The same guy who is also a weeb in front of the mirror and tries to replicate your awesome moves.

Help his roommates caught him-

I think he’d get those compression shirts/shorts with you or a symbol of yours for when he works out.

Also the guy who’s working out to your voice like those ASMR videos so he can pretend you’re praising him and congratulating him.

Gets into fights with Sanji about who’s the bigger fan.

I don’t see Zoro as the type to “collect” things, but he’d probably have a keychain of you around his belt or something as a good luck charm.

Might even have an action and poseable figure of you like a Figma.

Nami

Likes you lots, but also recognizes your merch potential.

Works alongside Usopp to produce fan merch or zines for you to make money.

Has a unique piece of jewelry with your symbol/iconography to wear.

She’s not wearing “obvious” for merch, because she just isn’t about that.

Probably has a few very expensive figures of yours that are special edition or anniversary editions that she managed to get at a steep discount.

Reads a bit of fanfic but tends to mostly peruse fanart of you.

Tends to have multiple ships for you- she doesn’t really favor one over the other she just thinks they’re interesting.

Likes to do cosplays of your fits, though. She’s gotten very popular for her lovely cosplays. She tends to handmake most of her cosplays, but Usopp and Franky add to the amazing accessories.

Plays the gacha game for your series, and her amazing luck means she gets practically all your units easily.

Usopp

The artist of the group who has seen and had to do heinous things for a commission.

Unlike the others, he IS making a self insert and HE IS DOING ART AND COMICS WITH YOU AND HIM AS THE MAIN COUPLE!

Has made a name for himself of making doujins and art for you. His store has seen lots of purchases for his doujins.

Nami basically is his account manager and has made him raise commission prices many times in order to pay their rent and so he can realize how valued his work is.

He mostly just posts his work but does like answering questions from fans and posting about how awesome you looked in the new episode.

Always making art and stories from you.

Has done fanfiction for you but it’s mostly with his OC/SI and his artwork tends to be more well-known.

Always does special drawings for your birthday and various holidays.

Plays the gacha and has bad luck so he has to whale for your unit. He insists he prefers just regular console or PC gaming instead of gacha.

Sanji

Number one fan, he WILL get into arguments about you and inject you into everything.

All your figures, all your merch, all of it in one specific room dedicated to you. Sanji even has a lifesize figure of you in a cool/cute pose he religiously cleans (and prays to ngl) every day because AINT NO WAY HIS LOVE IS GOING TO GET A SPECK OF DUST ON THEM!!

His work as a chef makes him busy, but he likes to wear small things of you like a brooch or something on his uniform to cheer him up through the day.

Makes videos cooking things you cooked or dishes you liked within the series.

He sometimes shows off his collection and Zoro calls him a loser and they get into fights in the comments.

Commissions art of you (probably Usopp) to hang up in the (Y/n) room.

I feel like he would do a persona/self-insert but also I feel like he’d be like no!!!! I cannot sully my beloved like that!!! So he focuses on just you.

Blocks people who are fans of you and does not like shipping anyone with you, hell no his mellorine is HIS!!!

Has done fanfic, mostly self-insert, and that’s pretty much all he reads. No ships.

Robin

“Oh, (Y/n)? Yes, they are an interesting character. I like them.”

[1 Million word count fic series, tagged: slow burn, character exploration, heavy angst, found family, Book 4 of 7]

“I just think they’re neat.”

Probably the mother fic writer for you and/or one of your ships.

Doesn’t socialize much online, just tends to post and scroll through the fics for you and answers comments under her fic.

Likes to support her fellow creators so she does look into the art and projects other fans have made.

Does try to create her own aesthetics for her blog and fics, but sometimes she just commissions Usopp to make her things for her fics to fit her vision.

Is really into unique and often abstract or “dark” art of you.

Yes you’re her favorite character, yes she will still make you suffer in her fics and art for the ~development~.

It’s a running gag with her peers where they ask her how she will torture them next.

She finds the Nendoroids of you are quite cute, so she bought one to go on her desk.

Franky

Franky likes making garage set figures of you.

He’s also a bit of a dork, so he will often make you pose with a super sentai outfit or large gundam robots (since they’re also a part of his crafting hobby).

Makes videos showing off the new figures he made of you.

He loves you cuz you’re his hero, you just amaze him!

Printed a photo of the art your creator did where you guys were all dressed like super heroes or something- suuuuppper up his alley and he loved seeing it.

He likes collecting the manga/comics for your series and keeps them on his personal shelf.

Franky also helps Nami/others with specific cosplay accessories. Franky is known for his craftsmanship, so he’s made plenty of cosplay gear for others that are above and beyond.

Him and Usopp have collabed to create the original figures of you that Franky adores.

Does those videos where he takes cheaper/smaller figures of you and adds to the base and design to make it more “epic”.

What the hell is “fanfiction”?

Brook

Goes by the username “Soul King” and uploads his covers of your franchise’s music.

He really loves you though so he’s often rocking your shirts while he’s recording the music.

He does a lot of different genres for your theme covers- jazz, heavy metal, lofi, piano, music box- he’s done em all.

Whenever he’s not recording covers of his music and does streams, he very proudly shows his figure of you and a poster he has hanging up on his wall.

Also plays the gacha game, has pretty good luck but never with your units.

“Wow! 5 Sugo-rares! Who are they- GOD DAMN IT IT’S JUST THE OTHERS!!! RATE UP IS A LIE!!!”

Brook is a menace though and I’m gonna keep that under wraps for various reasons.

Maybe in the future I might explain further.

Jinbei

Jinbei is classy, unlike many of the others here (we will not name names).

He’s more likely to “make” his own merchandise for you.

Handmade doll with a lovingly sewn kimono, for example.

Fancy tea set that is painted with your symbols but it’s so subtle and chic that some of his viewers don’t even realize it’s from some random franchise he likes.

He prides himself on his traditional and handmade crafts and you’re just an avenue to experiment with them.

He likes to design the kimonos and outfits with you in mind and the season. He shows the process of creating it in these calm and quiet BTS videos.

Really they are beautiful and the amount of love and skillmanship put into the work he does is fantastic, it’s awe inspiring.

Does not know what a fanfic, a gacha, or what a “fan edit” is. He’s an old man he’s got things to do, man.

[its-your-mind]

Some Thoughts on the importance of physical touch and connection for the Hells: A reflection on the new animated intro.

In general, I think the Hells are a really strange and special group, especially for a dnd party. They pretty much laid all their baggage on the table within the first week of meeting each other (What the Fuck is Up With That?) almost as a litmus test: "hey, here's all the shit that comes with being me, last chance to run away if that's too much."

and none of them did. and they all kept choosing to stay, even as shit got even weirder and more and more disturbing answers came to light. I think that continued choice from all of them - to stay - is what makes the bonds between the Hells so deep and so special.

okay trauma analysis and party dynamics is a DIFFERENT POST but it was all RELEVANT INTRODUCTION bc the CHOOSING TO STAY and the KNOWING EACH OTHERS' SHIT are like. key components to understanding why I am so feral about this. okay hopefully you will understand. the body of my essay is below. it has pictures. it got... too long. so. it went under a read more. yw. anyway click below if you want a very detailed analysis of an animated intro that is literally only one minute and thirty seconds long

For the first bit, character intros for Fearne, Orym, Imogen, Ashton, there’s no physical contact.

BUT. First intro of hells as a team. Ashton Trauma Flashback interrupted by laudna approaching slowly from beside him with her hand gently in front of him to signal her presence without startling him, and THEN just talking at them. Bringing him out of those flashbacks. Reminding him where he is and who he’s with.

And tbh? For Ashton? Touch is always iffy, so this is almost a more understanding and kind way to bring them out of the flashback. Just physical presence is good! UNLESS. (unless) first actual touch. Fearne stealing their coin purse, so gently that they don’t even notice it (FLIRTING THROUGH THEFT callowmoore my beloved)

(also grabbed the cap that shows her with his coinpurse these fucking ANIMATORS)

okay pt 2 FLYING OFF THE AIRSHIP

Ashton's first instinct and priority is grab laudna’s hand bc he KNOWS she is made of paper mache and he is ALWAYS watching out for her out of the corner of his eye bc she is breakable and he’s not gonna let her break bc he KNOWS what it’s like to be breakable and need someone to catch you when you’re falling but ANYWAY. he grabs her he uses his hammer as a fulcrum to throw her at Imogen

because OF COURSE he knows that the safest and most comfortable space for laudna is in imogen’s arms. and the two of them wrap their arms around each other and hold tight Superman style bc ofc they do and once laudna is in imogen’s arms she’s absolutely delighted by this whole situation bc OFC SHE IS

(tf do you mean I can’t add more than ten images on mobile UGH fine I’ll finish writing then draft and move to PC the images are IMPORTANT TO MY POINT anyway insert lesbians here) (note from future mind: I have decided that these pic descriptions i left for myself to grab the right images are fucking hilarious so they’re staying in yw)

Then fearne (who had been on her way in that direction already) swoops under Ashton to catch him as he flips over from the momentum so he can land on her giant bird back and she can fly him away.

(Pics: It’s fine to touch Ash if you’re saving their life)

(also not pictured: chet staying on the ship but losing his hat, orym grabbing it out of the air, imogen casting fly on fcg right before she catches laudna, fcg flying over to grab orym) All of this happens in six seconds by the way. One round of combat. These animators are fucking incredible.

BACK TO CHARACTER INTROS laudna who is ofc alone and in the dark at the bottom of the Sun tree, reliving her past…

(Pic: sad lonely laudna)

right up until Imogen puts her head on her shoulder, and the darkness burns away into light. She doesn’t say anything, or talk with laudna - all it takes is that physical reminder that she’s not alone anymore, that there is warmth, that she is surrounded by a family who loves her so much they chose to turn down comfortable beds in a lord’s manor so that they could join her in sleeping at the bottom of the Sun Tree. (Fav lil detail - fearne wrapped around Orym like he’s a teddy bear, and holding tight to laudna’s blanket to make sure she can’t go anywhere.)

(Pics: THE POWER OF LESBIANS AND FOUND FAMILY)

fcg. Fuck. Starts with their flashback, with their red eyes and their buzzsaw, but almost immediately we see Ashton reach out to grab their shoulder and Orym whip out a vine to tie up their saw.

(pics: reaching out even if it might hurt youuuuu)

Imogen goes on her knees and wraps her arms around FCG’s other side, and the rest of them all gather around him, holding him to keep him and each other safe, but mostly just grounding him in the present by surrounding him physically until the flashback fades and he’s once more aware of his surroundings.

(Pics: what the fuck they just need to be held)

(once shit has calmed down fearne uses this opportunity to pick Ashton’s pocket again. Flirting through theft).

(Pic: fearne is a menace to society)

final fight scene. fuck yes.

(Pic: IT’S THURSDAY NIIIIIIIIIIIGHT)

This is mostly just giving all of them room to be badasses (as they deserve) - but there are some things!! First!!

(pics: THESE WITCHES BE BITCHES minus fearne sry fearne we miss u but you are on fire and laudna is made of wood currently)

Imogen and laudna casting spells back to back, trusting each other to take care of what’s on their side. Inseparable, even in a battle where their party has scattered to fight other enemies.

BUT. The BIG thing though in this sequence. Maybe my favorite part? Idk I don’t have a favorite. But!! Orym. taking out four of Otohan’s shadow knights. then facing off against her personally!! And it’s one-on-one, because this was Orym’s task alone - to find the person who attacked his leader and killed his family. He’s angry, but mostly he’s honed-in and focused and determined. This is his mission.

(Pics: WHO’S JUST A LIL GUY NOW HUH)

But then, when Otohan pushes him back…

(Pic: fuck. shit. fuck. im. fine. anYway. them.)

FCG and Ashton are there right behind him, and they put their arms out and catch him so he doesn’t fly back any farther. And there’s this look of surprise on his face, because once he lost Will, he never expected there to be anyone else standing behind him, ready to catch him. And yet, here they are.

(Pics: fuck yes fuck yes fuck yes GOOOO ORYM!!!)

They give Orym a push forward and follow behind him, and he walks back towards Otohan with confidence. Lil grin on his face, brisk walking pace - he even does a little fancy sword swoosh! Because maybe he’s not strong enough to take out Otohan on his own. But the thing is, he’s not alone anymore.

(Pic: THEY.)

None of them are alone. And whenever any of them forget, or slip into old habits and memories, the rest are right there to reach out a hand to remind them.

Building a family out of broken pieces is difficult even without an apocalypse. But the Hells have shown each other, over and over and over, often with their actions even more than their words, that they really are dedicated to this family that they've built together. This intro fucking slaps so hard and the animators deserve so much praise for how incredible this intro is

[prontaentrega]

how to post songs as mp3 files and avoid copyright

a bunch of people were asking how to post music on tumblr so here's some kind of tutorial n_n there's probably a thousand better ways to do it out there but this is what i do and it works for me

Step 1: Acquiring music

Before you post any music you gotta have it as an mp3 file. Bunch of people mentioned mp3 converters but my favorite way has always been to just download discographies from blogs. You google "(band) complete discography free download" or something like that and something's bound to show up. If you've doing this for a while you'll skip this first part and go straight to the places you know will have it- here's some of my favorite blogspots for it - but they're all very specific to the stuff i listen to (mainly punk and latin american rock).

These type of sites tend to be genre-specific so if you're looking for, say, a prog rock band, maybe you'll have more luck searching for prog rock downloads websites. The older or more obscure the band, the easier it will be to find. And you'll find that a lot of these sites are not in english- you have to get comfortable visiting and downloading from sites in spanish, portuguese, russian or what have you and your life will get easier.

Don't limit yourself to blogs or music download-specific sites. Some people post album dl links on youtube. When i was in high school i downloaded The Black Parade from DeviantArt. The internet is far and wide and you can find stuff anywhere

But what if i can't find an album like this?

Alternative 1: Legally

Go find a record store and buy the album you want. You can also check the artist's bandcamp or any other website where you can buy their music and get it as a file on your pc (no streaming shit). Some albums are out there for free, legally! If you know an artist who uploads their music to tumblr you can just right click on their mp3 upload and download it directly :^)

Alternative 2: The classic

you can pretty much google youtube mp3 converter and click any link and it'll do the work. Here's a link from a safe piracy subreddit. You paste a youtube vid's link and hit convert/download etc.

I've also heard some people say Lucida is good (lets you download songs and albums by pasting the spotify/bandcamp/wtv link) but i can't say it has worked for me- always gives me a network error. But maybe it works for someone else.

Step 2: I got the music- now what?

Now you post it! Some songs (obscure or copyright-free enough) will just let you post them like that. Most songs won't. For a lot of them you'll have to add some silence or edit the metadata.

Adding silence to a song:

Option 1: Get audacity for free. Go to File > Open on the top bar and open the song you wanna add the silence to. Make sure you're at the start of the track (it says 00h00m00s at the bottom). Go to Generate > Silence... on the top bar also. Choose how long you want the silence to be, click "generate". You'll see a straight line appear at the start of the track- that means it worked. Go to File > Export > Export as MP3 to save it. You'll see a pop up where you can edit the metadata (things like artist, year, genre, etc.) i like having my audio files with metadata but for the purpose of tumblr posts you'll want to leave all that empty- if it's got that info erase it. Click "Ok". Done!

Option 2: Do it online on audiomass. Go to File > Load from Computer, open the song. Click on the white square with the S (insert silence button). Choose how long you want it to be, click "insert silence". You'll see a straight line appear at the start of the track- that means it worked. Go to File > Export/Download. Make sure it's mp3 format, i always save it as 256kbps but it's not neccessary. Click export. Done!

Some songs let you get away with only 5 or 8 seconds of silence. I try to have it be as short as possible, but most songs will need 10 seconds of silence. Sometimes even a little more, if even with the 10 seconds it doesn't let you post it try adding 0.25s more and checking.

I always play the file i just exported, to make sure everything's right.

Editing the metadata:

I'm gonna be honest i don't know how necessary this is but the audio post format works in mysterious ways so it's always better to be one step ahead. If you got it from youtube to mp3 or already added the silence then your file won't have any metadata, unless you didn't clear it when exporting from audacity. if you got it legally or pirated from any blogspot type site and didn't edit it at all it will probably have metadata. To edit it you have to right click the file > Properties, go to the "details" tab, and there you'll see things like title, author, year, genre, etc. You can just click on any section and change or erase it, then click "Ok".

As a last thing, it's generally better if the file is not saved as the song's name. Just name it anything else.

Compressing the file:

I almost forgot but there's also a size limit. I don't remember it at the moment because i've only had a problem with it once, but if you do just google "compress mp3 file" and go on any website to do it LOL

Step 3: Posting it

Now just go make a new audio post. Upload the file from your pc. If there's an error sometimes it'll tell you what it is (you don't own this song/the file is too heavy/etc) but sometimes it will just delete the audio post format and not tell you anything. If there's any error make sure you did everything (the silence, the metadata, the size, the file name). Maybe go back and add 0.5 or 1 more second of silence at the start. Sometimes tumblr just won't want you to post a song even with every step done right- nothing to do about that :( Sometimes you can try back after a while and it will let you post the song- sometimes it won't. There's no real logic to it tbh.

But if everything goes right it will upload correctly. Now you can add the song's title, artist and album info, and album art or whatever image you want n_n Hit post and done!

[mintharabaenrelore]

I wasn't satisfied with my previous post on Orin and Minthara, so here is the updated, more organized version.

Remember, on the Baldur's Gate 3 Wiki, Orin is described as Minthara's "former abuser".

"The drow woman was the only survivor, favored by Orin as the shapeshifter's new toy. She personally took Minthara into the towers' cellars and held the drow as the Absolute infected her with a mind flayer tadpole, making Minthara a True Soul.

The mental control of the Absolute deluded Minthara's mind. She found herself being almost infatuated by Orin the Red. The drow eagerly absorbed the shapeshifter's every word and took up arms in service of the new goddess."- Forgotten Realms Wiki

"Because of course she had great admiration and almost love for Orin"- Emma Gregory, Minthara's (very talented) VA

What do we know?

Minthara is terrified of Orin- she says so herself. She does not believe she can protect herself from her and asks the PC to do so.

Ketheric Thorm sent a True Soul and 2 novices to Menzoberranzan, 'preaching a message of togetherness'. Minthara killed them. She then used a 'simple act of necromancy'- likely Speak to the Dead, but as I said in my timeline, corpses don't speak to their killer, so I don't know how she did this. They informed her where to strke, and so she went to Moonrise Towers with a retinue of warriors and assassins. As she referred to them as 'her men', I believe they were all male.

She met Ketheric at a feast, he proposed an alliance between Moonrise and Menzoberranzan. During all of this, Orin was at the foot of the table, and Minthara notes she should have been more wary of her- the 'pale woman'. Then, Orin spoke for the first time. Minthara caught only her name. Orin then climbed across the table, 'a dagger in each hand', skipped toward her, 'slicing' the throats of her men as she passed by them. Ketheric held Minthara still, a hand on her shoulder, 'the grip tight enough to crack bone'.

Orin stood before her and touched a dagger to her eye, 'drawing out a tear of blood'. Why did she do this? It's possible it was to prepare for the tadpole's insertion, but knowing Orin, I believe she just likes stabbing eyes- that's what she does to whoever she kidnaps, after all. Anyways, Orin said, in these exact words, "I want this one." This is where things get vague.

Ketheric gave her permission, and Minthara never forgave him for 'handing' her to Orin. In fact, she says "For that, I hope Myrkul hollows out his bones and lets them be dust." Minthara was then taken 'below'- by Orin herself, I believe. (Whether that means she was dragged to the colony or injured already or something else, I can't be certain.)

Minthara was kept for days in the mind flayer colony by Orin herself. She was forced to watch as her men were processed as food and thralls. When Orin kidnaps someone, she appears to use a paralysis of some sort, so I theorize that's how Minthara was 'forced to watch'. Unsurprisingly, Minthara has 'grim' memories of the place.

Two contrasting statements are made about exactly how Minthara was tadpoled, but both directly involve Orin. Either Orin placed a tadpole in Minthara's eye herself, or she 'held' her down in a 'cocoon of flesh' (which may or may not mean a mind flayer pod; Minthara is familiar enough with mind flayers by this point that I think she would say so if it was) and 'laughed' at her fear as a mind flayer forced a parasite into her brain.

From that point on, Minthara was brainwashed, devoted to the Absolute. Orin was the Absolute's Chosen, who she believed to be speaking for her, and so Minthara 'worshipped' her. She thought she had found a home, a purpose, a new god. All her hopes and ambitions, encompassed in one person... or so she believed.

She says, "Orin was by my side. She told me that the Absolute had chosen me to be a True Soul. Blessed and adored. Now I know those memories are lies." Based off of the Wiki, I think she means Orin was lying to her, not that this never occurred.

One must ask, if Minthara was associating Orin with the Absolute, if Orin made the same connection, is she showing some sort of affection?

Whatever the case, during this all, the gruesome memory of her indoctrination was obscured, as during banter with Shadowheart, Minthara notes "I am glad my memories of the infection are not so clear."

Minthara didn't stay in the mind flayer colony for long. She says, "My indoctrination - my infection - took place at Moonrise, but I did not stay here for long. […] Ketheric recognized me as a soldier, and took me into his army immediately." Less fortunately, this doesn't mean she wasn't still seeing Orin from time to time.

At some point in the goblin camp, Orin may have visited her as a goblin says the Moonrise Types rarely visit Dror Ragzlin or Priestess Gut so the PC must be here for Minthara. Minthara has a flashback or a vision in which she listens as Orin 'whispers in her ear', getting closer and closer in a distinctly sinister manner. In Gut's scene, she is standing away from Gortash; in Ragzlin's, he is bowing. This makes Minthara's unique because 1. there is movement and 2. the power imbalance is evident, yet less so than in the other two.

How did Orin view her?

First off, why did Orin single Minthara out? Why did she choose her?

Remember, Orin wasn't supposed to kill Minthara's fellow drow. Here is the note found in Ketheric's room that references Minthara's "recruitment"-

“Sweeping up individual drow renegades is not giving us the cadre of Lolth-trained veterans I want for our staff and officer corps; we must be more ambitious. Agent Xilvre, True Soul 113, will be commanded to infiltrate Menzoberranzan itself, ideally House Baenre, ostensibly to proselytise on the behalf of the divine Absolute. I think Xilvre will be convincing in this role.

This intrusion will excite outrage among the Baenre matrons, who can be counted upon to send a warband to exterminate whoever was so rash as to promote anti-Lolth apostasy in their home. Xilvre will have left a clear trail back here to Moonrise Towers, where the warband will find, not a circle of ragtag heretics, but an army in the making. I will parley with the drow leader, but as we negotiate her warband will be ambushed, and every drow warrior we capture will be tadpoled. This accomplished, the warband leader will meet the same fate, and thus we shall acquire our cadre of hardened Underdark warriors. And all it will cost us is the life of loyal Agent Xilvre, but he is, truth be told, a tedious enthusiast and I will not miss him."

Here are some potential reasons that Orin spared her.

As Minthara herself points out not once but twice, she and Orin have similar traits. Orin also appears to understand her trust issues, as she says- when she kidnaps her and is impersonating her- that she believes the party will soon turn on her.

Orin is desperate for affection, devotion, because the Dark Urge was always Bhaal's favorite child. Minthara, a paladin, is just about the most devoted person you could ask for.

Perhaps, on some level, Orin missed Durge and wanted a replacement who was similar to them- deadly and cunning, a leader.

"I gave you this command because I saw something in you. Your efficiency- your ruthlessness- your killer's instinct."-Ketheric. This is why Ketheric valued her; perhaps Orin felt similarly.

But what do I believe, personally?

Orin is sadistic, we know this. She enjoys breaking her victims, physically and mentally- especially resilient ones. So, while it's unpleasant to think about, I believe the most likely reason is that Orin simply wanted to see someone so powerful and self-contained suffer.

I also think that Orin's childish personality is at work here, in some sort of twisted curiosity or fascination with this beautiful, ruthless stranger.

Anyways, I think Orin viewed Minthara as a plaything, a pet project, a toy. (Actually, considering the Forgotten Realms Wiki, this is canon.) Something she could hurt or use, something that would praise and adore her, 'worship' her, "adore" her (according to the Wiki). A fascination, an obsession, to whom she could manipulate however she pleased, to whom she could be God. Minthara's blind devotion was filling a void within Orin, sating that craving for approval and love.

It's confirmed Orin physically harmed Minthara- "I have faced Orin before and she left scars on me that will never heal. She will enjoy adding to them" and "I will dissect her for laying her blade on me again" (this confirms that Orin used Bloodthirst on her, as this is Minthara's line when she is Orin's victim and is freed during the battle) are two examples.

The note on Orin enjoying scarring her and how Minthara later says Orin will 'tease and toy' with them until she 'tires of the hunt' is also telling.

The treatment of Minthara by her lessers and superiors also suggests she was Orin's toy and everyone knew it- Balthazar refers to her as the PC's "pet drow", Zealot Malik says to "keep her on a tight leash",

I also think that Minthara was directly influenced as Orin's own "Chosen" or plaything, because she was far more bloodthirsty than usual; her torturers claim she was distracted by her desires for bloodlust, murder, and chaos, which sounds distinctly similar to our least-favorite Bhaalspawn. (Well. My least favorite Bhaalspawn.)

Did they have romantic relations?

I couldn't come to a conclusion previously, and while the evidence is imperfect, I think it's likely. (Remember, Minthara was under mind control and therefore not a willing party; which is obviously bad.)

I have a few reasons for thinking this.

Take the Grand Infernal Painting, for example- we know that Orin is capable of more than just bloodshed, she can make things weird. And Orin's impression of Minthara when she kidnaps her- "Will you watch when the others kill me? Will you hold my head back while they cut my throat? Will you whisper goodbyes as I gasp and bleed? Tempting tempting tempting. But not yet. Not yet." Take her statement about Minthara in the sewers- "Her skin will make a pretty pretty tapestry." In fact, take "I want this one," "I worshipped that woman", "Orin was by my side" etc.

When you ask Minthara "An old flame?" about Orin, she replies, "Jealous? You needn't be- when Orin is in my hands, her agony will nourish me." She also says "During my time in the cult, I came to know one of his"- Ketheric's- "co-conspirators all too well- Bhaal's blood-letter, Orin."

But I will remind you, there is not solid proof, just implications.

"It is hard to believe she is dead, after everything she did to me"- Minthara Baenre on Orin the Red

"We were both born of trauma"- Minthara Baenre on Orin the Red

[tinandabin]

SAGAU. Yeah, just SAGAU.

__

You were playing Genshin impact and trying to farm the best motherfucking artifacts for each of your characters, sure, you have favourites but all of them deserve the same love. So what if they are just fictional? They are your babies. Obviously, your friends cannot relate to your dedication to this.

It was just another day, doing your daily commissions. Yeah, okay, the characters do act a little weird from time to time. But hey, it's just a glitch. It's not like you will wake up in Genshin one day, right? Haha. Don't jinx yourself.

Yes, yes, the banners are certainly generous when it comes to you. You end up getting practically every character at soft pity, or even earlier. Your friends say that's unfair. But Hoyoverse has favourites, can they really blame you?

Oh my, will you look at the artifacts? Your account is just blessed like that. Huh? What do your friends mean they didn't get a letter from [insert favourite character] gifting them primogems? Nah, it's just a glitch.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" You quirked your eyebrow at Childe, who was not taking his eyes off you.

"This game is so glitchy.." You sighed and continued on your little adventure with your favourite characters. Woah, is that a luxurious chest? Unguarded? This isn't a trap, right?

"Did you check out the new update? The detail is little but hey, the characters blush now!!" You excitedly rambled to your friend, who stared at you in confusion.

"There isn't an update like that though?" They replied, utterly confused. "I'm telling you! You are Hoyoverse's favourite!"

All of this is nothing but a big, big glitch, right?

Well, you aren't gonna complain so long as you keep getting primogems! The more the merrier, am I right?

But don't you think the characters seem too alive now? Oh well, maybe it's just your imagination. Don't forget to shut down your PC/Mobile tonight, okay? Better safe than sorry.

Masterlist

[woodswallow]

Hola, hi, hallo!

I was watching Blips compilation of Ausländer kisses again, don’t ask me how many times I’ve watched this before, but this time I noticed the Düsseldorf 19-June-2022 kiss. Like, of course the guitar is in the way, but Paul seems to reach for Richard’s crown jewels, or is that just me and my dirty mind? I was wondering what you thought of that gesture…

*insert ‘we do handjobs now’ gif here*

Hello hello :)

Thank you so much for this ask! :) You're referring to this kiss here, starting at min 01:58.

At min 02:16 Paul moves his right hand in the direction of Richards guitar/"crown jewels" as you called them ^^

I watched the scene on my PC screen and could see, that Paul was watching Richards right hand playing the guitar (around 02:14 I could clearly see him looking up into Richards face again). Listening to their play, Richard is the one playing the final (single) notes and Paul provides the strummed chords. To me, the last note Richard plays sounds a bit like it's "hanging in the air" - I would wish for a last, more deeper note to "close"the song (don't know if you understand what I mean - I'm waiting for/expecting another note, so the song sounds "complete").

Richard does these little side nods, to me they look like "hu? hu? will I play another note? will I play it?" - a little teasing. Paul is grinning all the time, his eyes switching between Richards face and his right hand.

I think, Paul was waiting for a final note from Richard, so he could play HIS last cord. Richard didn't provide this last expected note - and I think Pauls hand movement was an attempt to play that final note on Richards guitar himself :D Pauls right hand is the one holding his plec, so maybe he wanted to strum that string - put Richard prevented it by initiating the hug and "ending/winning the battle".

Richard laughs very prominently and hugs/kisses Paul for quite a long time, which makes me think if this is a way to say "Sorry Paul, but this time I won the teasing! :D Gotcha! "

Personally I don't think they would grab each other's crotch on purpose on stage (only accidentally ^^). I think they respect each other too much, to do something which might be embarassing for the other person.

With Till on the other hand, I wouldn't be so sure... ^^;

Thank you so much for sending this message my way and asking about my opinion! <3 :)

[burr-ell]

"the tendency of this fandom to only engage with what THEY want these characters to be#as opposed to what their creators are trying to do and the stories they want to tell" slap this on a bumper sticker, you just summed all cr discourse (about PCs at least) in 2 sentences

It truly is maddening (and it's not by any means exclusive to the CR fandom). The reason why the discourse always goes the way it does is that at the end of the day, the loud fanwanky people only see what they would do, if they were self-inserted into the story, as a valid choice; and they are, more broadly, fundamentally disinterested in what others think or feel. There are several examples of this, and the variety of spaces within the fandom that produce these ideas is an indicator that this isn't endemic to one specific group of people.

-Keyleth is an important character whose feelings and choices are validated by the other PCs and cast even if they still disagree with them, in spite of how she and her preachiness get in the way of the Murderhobo Jubilee? It's not because the cast are all friends and they genuinely believe Keyleth is valid and are interested in how these discussions and choices can guide the story. It's because Marisha is the DM's girlfriend, and also here's my totally unbiased theory that my pet favorite players Sam and Travis secretly hate Marisha and Keyleth.

-Vax's presence is still felt and nodded to in the post-canon VM oneshots? It's not because he was an important character who mattered. It's because Liam wants to make everyone talk about his tragedy because he has Main Character Syndrome. Scanlan Wishes for Vax to appear at the wedding? It's not because he cares about Vex or because Sam and Liam wanted a sweet tribute to Vex and Vax's relationship and by extension Liam and Laura's friendship. It's because Liam thinks Vex's life should always revolve around Vax, and Sam wants to enable him and jerk himself off as the one who facilitated it.

-Beauyasha and Fjorester become canon? It's not because the players wanted it and it happened naturally. It's because there was a secret behind-the-scenes push to "force" those ships to become canon instead, and like, Dani Carr is some sort of shipping puppetmaster who made the players do it, and "they" (whomever "they" is) decided to sink Beaujester or Widojest because it was "obviously" going to become canon before the pandemic hiatus gave them time to "make the corporate-approved ships happen".

-Beau and Caleb try to reform the Empire and dismantle the Cerberus Assembly from within? It's not because it makes sense for their stories or that people who would take this position regarding a corrupt government might have a valid perspective that differs from your own. It's because the people at Critical Role Productions LLC are all spineless neoliberal cowards who won't commit to real activism. The best activism, after all, is violent, and violent revolutions have always resulted in stable aftermaths, and the real world has never demonstrated that this mindset is foolish.

-Relatedly: Caleb doesn't kill Trent personally? It's not because the most poetic justice would be to deny Trent the thing he wants most from Caleb. It's because "Limo Brain" is too obsessed with tragedy to have the stones to do "what needs to be done".

-Asmodeus, DnD Satan, turns out to also be CR Satan? It's not because it fits with the cosmology and the lore; it's because Matt Mercer is too attached to the "establishment", and the Prime Deities should have actually turned out to be the bad guys because of my personal baggage about Western religion and Christianity they're a little mean to my blorbo sometimes.

There's a pattern here: fans had expectations that they'd built up for themselves after projecting and building up fanon and deciding what players meant before they explained themselves fully, and when the players strayed from that, they were derided for all manner of reasons. I think we're seeing that same pattern play out in C3 as the story progresses in a way that fans dislike, and in fact we have seen fanwank spread whenever someone does anything that interferes with personally catering to a) the favored ship and/or b) the favored philosophy. (Orym, Ashton, FCG, Percy, Pelor...all valid when they affirm the Fandom Opinions and all disdained when they don't.)

Don't get me wrong, I think there's a place for comfort stories that deliver a personal catharsis. And I'm not going to dismissively say "well if you want it so bad make your own" because, as an artist, I am very familiar with the fact that creating is hard and draining and sometimes you just need to consume instead. But when you become so wrapped up in yourself and your feelings to the point where your perspective is the only valid one, someone else's feels like a betrayal when it isn't. It's always "They aren't doing what we wanted and here's why they're terrible people because of it" and never "Hmm, why is this what the cast wants? Let's examine that."

This isn't a new phenomenon, but I think it ultimately stems from not assuming that other people can differ from you in major ways in good faith. There are a lot of reasons for that (some more understandable than others), but I think you rob yourself of the potential to enjoy something new when all you do is demand what you already want. No matter what you're doing or where you are in life, you tend to become a better and wiser person when you open your mind to what other people have to say, no matter how mundane the subject matter. Sometimes the stories people have to tell are challenging—and the only healthy way to deal with that is to engage with them on their own terms.

[dolconfessionsss]

Ok, so, started playing DoL and after maxxing out most of the stats (physique, athletics, swimming, and getting a good amount of willpower), I went down the smuggler cave at rocks. So, I got caught. Got gangbanged. Ended up blindfolded, gangbanged again, beat em up this time tho. Then the whistle from a man.

"Huh, this man's vibe seems familiar to another character. Probably doesn't mean anything, but hol up, lemme check", I think. Go to orphanage, gameplay settings, go change Wren's gender to female. Now go back to cave and the whole thing all over again (RIP my PC, the stress level was almost enough to have him pass out).

Whistle from a *woman* this time.

[insert surprised Pikachu face here]

Wren. Is. Fucking. Everywhere.

(probably should have guessed that would be him given his title is literally Wren *The Smuggler*, but holy fuck, discovering that is wild)

I'm literally shaking all of you Wren enjoyers in the shoulders because I have never met this character outside that one meeting in the forest when the expedition-thingy was set up and how do I meet them more frequently please help they sounds like a fucking treat--

[anthurak]

9S is the final boss though? Like his whole arc after 2B dies is him going insane until you get to the final fight with A2 with her being the obviously better choice.

Alright, ‘cracks knuckles’ guess I’m finally talking about those Nier takes I’ve never gotten around to.

Yes, you are correct. Which is why I call 9S a ‘blemish’ and not something that outright ruined the game for me.

It’s still annoying when you get into later parts of Route B when 9S starts stumbling onto all the big lore and backstory reveals with even Commander White dropping into emphasize how important what he’s finding is. As if the story is saying ‘aren’t you a smart and special little boy, 9S, for discovering all these important things’. Which combined with 2B dying at the start of Route C, makes it feel like, as I said, 9S is getting the ‘he was the REAL main character all along!’ treatment. Particularly when we consider that 9S gets to be the PC of both Route B and half of Route C, whereas 2B only gets Route A and A2 only gets half of Route C, effectively meaning that 9S technically gets the most screen time, story-wise.

Add on the fact that, as I said in the original repost, 9S reads and acts like literally every generic, cardboard-cutout self-insert anime protag-guy, to the point where some of his dialogue with 2B that I think the game wants us to interpret as ‘flirting’ feels like it’s out of a goddamn visual novel, and you can see why I consider him pretty insufferable.

It also doesn’t help that every time I’ve revisited Nier: Automata, I’m always finding 2B more and more interesting and compelling as a character. Just as an example, has anyone noticed that despite being seemingly the most ‘professional’ and loyal to the YoRHA cause on the surface of the three PCs, 2B is actually the most merciful of the three to the machine lifeforms? Like how when you first encounter non-hostile machines, 2B doesn’t want to attack them, stating that there is no reason to attack those that aren’t attacking them. Or how 2B is actually the MOST open of the three to talking and working with Pascal, whereas A2 is at first extremely distrustful and 9S just wanted to attack him on sight.

And yes, I really like A2 as well. Unfortunately the way her route is constructed means that she feels just as much like a replacement for 2B as she does a separate character in her own right. Which combined with the shorter length of Route C, makes her character feel a bit truncated.

And yes, 9S rapidly revealing himself to be a crazed, murderous incel simping for 2B the moment she dies IS in and of itself a great, twisted and interesting character turn, and I wholly agree that A2 having to Old-Yeller him is absolutely the better choice for the final battle. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really change everything else I’ve been saying up to now. Or the fact that 2B absolutely got fridged to make it happen.

Personally, for a long time now I’ve felt a better way to do the post-‘everything’s gone to shit’ reveal that we see in Route C would have 2B not actually dying but instead taken by A2 and eventually purged of the logic virus, though with 9S still wholly BELIEVING that 2B is dead at A2’s hands. Say, A2 still stabs 2B, but it turns out to be non-fatal.

From there, Route C follows A2 and a weakened/regaining-her-strength 2B working together. Likely with some fun gameplay twists were-in you’re switching control between the two. All the while, 9S is deteriorating even further than what we saw originally, to the point where even when he learns that 2B is alive and sees her again, he just goes into an even more crazed ‘you abandoned me!’ and ‘you left me for her!’ mode.

Which actually ends up leading to 9S mirroring Eve’s own crazed obsession with Adam and the rampage he went on after the latter’s death. Which in turn at first leads 2B to believe that 9S has some lingering virus infection from Adam and Eve from when they were holding him captive and that is the source of his madness, meaning that 9S could still be saved.

Of course, in a tragic twist, it is revealed that it ISN’T something lingering from Eve, but rather that 9S is deliberately re-infecting himself with the virus. That the true source of 9S’s madness is simply his own twisted obsession with 2B.

Which in turn leads to a final boss fight of 2B and A2 fighting a now-monstrous 9S. A fight which culminates in 2B and A2, with the help of Pods 042 and 153, hacking 9S in an extended trippy hacking sequence.

A sequence which culminates in 2B/the player having to hack into 9S’s menu and actually forcibly uninstall his OS-chip in order to put him down for good. Complete with you/2B effectively having to fight the ‘Are you sure?’ confirmation box which becomes progressively more crazed and unhinged, until Pod 042 mentions that you can force-uninstall the chip through some seemingly simply method like holding the button. Or perhaps something equally zany like switching control to A2 to uninstall the chip while the confirmation box is ‘occupied’ with 2B.

Thus, we still get a tragic/bittersweet ending of 2B being forced to kill 9S, but this time for good with the sense that now she can finally move on. Also this version would absolutely have 2B and A2 becoming a couple.

So yeah, that's a... few of my takes on Nier. Heck, I didn't even go into the AU I've had percolating for a few years now wherein 9S is expunged from the story entirely, 2B is partnered with 60 and is a bit of a yuri-harem-protag and there is frankly WAY more world-building than is necessary.

[hpowellsmith]

How do you feel when romanceable NPCs get together with each other? I'd love to hear what you do and don't like about it!

I hate it too in general, but I think it depends on how it's presented.

I saw people before mention that when an RO always ends up with another NPC in every route where the MC isn't romancing them, then that just feels like a weird personal insert of the author. I agree.

When a game is all about the choices of the player, then it feels like this completely defeats the whole purpose. It makes the reader feel like the route where they did romance that character didn't matter at all because RO canonically would rather be with NPC. So why make them a romance option in the first place? It's fine if non-romanceable NPCs get together, even better if I get to play matchmaker, but then don't make them romance options for the MC. (I'm looking at you DA Veilguard because boy this pissed me off so much in the game)

I always assume that those authors who force ROs together (without player choice) never expect the players to make several playthroughs where they romance different characters but then lol they don't know their audience at all which is... not a good look.

On the other hand, if the game gives me a choice about it in the form of "hey do you want these two to start dating?" then thank you, now we're talking! I can say no, or I can say yes. Feels like matchmaking again, but it doesn't figuratively erase my past routes where I happened to romance one of those characters, plus, it gives me a cool new choice to make.

I think you did an excellent good job with this in your own books (and sorry this got long).

this is in response to the question:

How do you feel when romanceable NPCs get together with each other? I'd love to hear what you do and don't like about it!

This was great to hear, thank you! (and there's never a need to apologise about writing a lot!)

I want to gently disagree on a couple of things:

First, that authors who write romanceable NPCs getting together don't expect players to play several times. On the contrary, I imagine that a lot of authors who do this know players will play multiple times, and think it's fun to show how different outcomes can unfold in response to different choices from the player. I don't know this for sure, because I'm only one person, but when I've written it, that's part of why (and I always assume people will see things more than once, whatever the scene!)

Secondly, particular relationships feeling "canon" - again speaking only for myself not for other authors, I don't consider any path or relationship canon. Anything that branches is all equally canon or non-canon in my eyes!

All of that said, I totally get what you mean about wanting it to be part of the player/PC's choices - I do think it can be great fun to matchmake and it's something that the player can opt into or out of however they feel. I think as with a lot of things with interactive narrative, introducing choice and agency tends to make things that someone might not enjoy if it was framed in a different way feel better.

Sidenote, it's a bit of a balance working out how to do it without it feeling like characters giving an odd amount of control over their lives to the PC, though! I think I could get away with it in Royal Affairs because the PC is just so fancy, but in other situations it might feel a bit weird.

(I have been thinking a lot about choice and responsiveness in my current outline actually - unrelated to NPC-NPC romances, but about some plot elements/setpieces and twiddling the "player agency" dial in various directions to make things feel fun and impactful)

[danceintheskies]

hi sam :) do you have any free itch.io or steam game recommendations 🎮

yes! but this is heavily skewed by my own tastes(mostly vns and rpgs

Bittersweet birthday is very polished so far, has great art, and is also mind-crushingly difficult. (This is a free demo, the full game isn't out yet.) Steam link

Slice of scythe is deeply cute and fun and enables you to do moderately evil things for a cute cowboy hat. recaptured the feeling of playing random silly flash games for me.

love on the peacock express - the itch page for this is "trainmilfsgame.itch.io". all you need to know. (okay, not really. it's a short mystery game. and it has milvess

our life: beginnings and always is a very earnest and fluffy self-insert VN with a lot of customization. might not be everyone's taste-- basically rides or dies on if you like the main boy unless you want to get the DLC-- but I had a lot of fun with it. I haven't played the second game in the series (our life now and forever) but I imagine it follows a similar philosophy? As an aside it's cute seeing their art improvement from one game to the next. Steam link

a tale of crowns - a high fantasy text adventure that has me gripped by the hair. (not complete as of writing)

wayfarer is another fantasy text adventure, but it plays much more like a TTRPG with dice rolls and everything. beautiful visuals too, which is a weird thing to say about a twine game, but it's true! I have to stop myself from playing this because I get too invested in it. (also not complete as of writing)

flesh, blood and concrete - high grade rpgmaker horror. beautiful art, very contemplative

lily's well - rpgmaker horror game in the style of older PC games. I think it's more of an acquired taste than FB&M, but I enjoyed it. Steam link

horla - atmospheric 3D first person horror game! I like the sound design in this one. currently just a free demo available. Steam link (for wishlisting!)

butterfly soup - I mean. I can't not put buttsoup on here. c'mon. it's a coming-of-age VN about gay asian girls playing baseball. Some don't like the memey humor, which I get, but the characters are all 9th grade freakazoids so I think it's charming and nostalgic. The sequel came out recently too, after a long wait!!!

I hesitate to call it a game more than an interactive story, but my brother; the parasite haunts me now and forever

depression quest - this game gets overshadowed by its reputation as "the game that started gamergate", which is a shame because it's an interesting interactive fiction game in its own right. my actual nitpicks of it boil down to the author presenting their experiences as universal, but I think more people should still give it a try.

In general, if you want to find more weird or niche or one-off or otherwise unique games to play, looking through the games submitted for different game jams is always fun!

[eyesofshan-if]

the demo was so good im dead 😫 the empress has my whole heart 😖💕

i have some questions! (nsfw!)↓ (please, only answer if comfortable)

1. i realized that the commander is viewed as bottom more often than not during the game, is it because they're Shan and consequently seen as submissive in nature?

2. if there ever are nsfw scenes in game, in the situation that the commander/RO preferences clash (top/top or bottom/bottom), could you make it so it's talked about in game? giving the option to compromise (rock, paper, scissors? lmao) or maybe opt out? it's just something that irks me in games, normally the PC has to just go along with what the RO prefers, or cancel the choice (the game treating it as if the PC is "not ready yet to do such things"). i just think it's more natural to talk about it and come to conclusions such as "i don't mind switching", "i never tried *insert preference here*, but i'd like to try it with you", "sorry i really don't enjoy doing it like that, but there's more to sex than just penetration if you want to keep going, or maybe we could just cuddle". (i'm sorry for this long ask, i'm just a fervent defender of how sex is a wide ranged topic and goes beyond missionary and the very heteronormative societal view😓)

3. in one ask you said that Hansol had experimented with fellow soldiers and how he "didn't approve of and didn't like the experience", why is it? also, did he have the "full experience" (gave and received hand/blow jobs, topped, bottomed, etc)? i also asked the second question because Hansol is the one portrayed as very much a top/dom, so in all honesty, would he bottom?

thank you for your hard work! <3

yongsun superiority!!! nsfw under the cut!!

i'm not sure if you mean bottom in a sexual manner (since i don't think there have been any nsfw leaning scenes in the story), but the mc will have to control their emotions more and bite their tongues while in hae due to their status as a slave. however, i don't think i've written them particularly dominant or submissive? so maybe you could let me know where you felt the mc acted that way

IF there are any nsfw scenes in the story, yes i'll have the characters talk about it in game!! i'm all for a healthy dose of realism in nsfw scenes

it was a very messy experience where a few soldiers were drinking after successfully raiding a geurim supply camp, and hansol was peer-encouraged/pressured into gaining some "experience" as a man. he got a handjob, sobered up and realised he was kind of uncomfortable with the whole thing, and quickly left. he doesn't approve of it because he doesn't enjoy treating people as a means to an end for pleasure, in addition to more traditional beliefs that sex should happen within the boundaries of a marriage or at least pre-existing relationship. as for bottoming... well, hansol is a service top who leans more towards domming in that sense, but i can see him being willing to try out bottoming if his partner requested it!!

[halevren]

FHJY Spoilers || my live thoughts as I watch episode 7

this may take me longer than usual because I have hurt my hand so it's wrapped up rn and it makes it hard to type 🫡

TTTTAKING OVER TEENAGE REBELLION

I miss ayda aguefort i hope she shows up in this episode.

pitch perfect 2 mention! I used to be so into music related movies

So much happened last episode, this recap is so long

I am not a fan of Grix.

AGENT CLARK...

Two Kristen's again

OH NO

ADAINE COMING IN WITH THE SAVE

"Pretty fun to commit fraud"

"That was sophomore year, I'm cool now"

Body rolling I love body rolling it's so fun to just vibe

Mandatory drug test????

Bard class cool as hell

GRIX NETTED DURDEN?

Rip Gorgug he fell on the stairs

"Did she cast a spell on you " "I mean, in a sense..."

Littledoggy Girlcollar

they should investigate definitely

"If we all do drugs, they can't expell all of us."

Riz trying so hard to keep Fig from being expelles

shrimp burrito

Gorgug not being a fan of Mary Ann is very interesting to me and very reasonable.

"I think it's a really good thing you're thinking."

kipperlitty is subliminally messaging people with the food?!?!?!?!?

I can't wait to see the fan art that comes out of this episode

"Hey.... Girlie"

THE SILENCE

"Did you hear? She passed." KRISTEN EHEHEJWKEHBEE

OHHH KIPPERLILLY. THAT WAS SHADY. YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO SAY IT SO LOUD. I ABSOLUTELY KNOW YOU DID IT ON PURPOSE

KRISTEN KRISTEN KIRSTEN KRISTEN KRISTEN

"Hey do we need to lock it in" yeah probably

Max Durden is probably my second favorite npc

"Everyone has to have a least favorite friend, it's fine" NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Fabian running a study hall is so cool

This downtime sounds fun

SPECIAL THING IS GOING TO HAPPEN IF GORGUG GETS NAT 20????????

Riz "The Ball" Gukgak

SERVER AT BASRAR'S!!!!!!

Aewlyn mention 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

SHE GOT THE JOB

"Nice new shirt, did you buy it underground?"

The stress tokens are actually making me real life stressed

GORGUG NAT 20!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SECOND GORGUG NAT 20!!!!!!!!

"It might be more stable than mine"

i miss Cassandra I hope she's okay

The shrimp jump. WAS a miracle

let's go Cassandra!

Fig paladin of Cassandra??????????????

Oh my god is Fig Multiclassing

oh my god wait craig he's still around

"it's like animal piss but in a good way"

"Kristen, your adult man is being weird"

"You'd be a nasty as paladin?"

"I don't want to harsh your vibe"

"Everyone has to lick me"

oh no he's a noodler

DETECTIVE BABY

gorgug has tunnel vision

Gorgug is literally so stressed

"I SUCK, YOU RULE"

the rage!

Fabian is such a loser when it comes to talking with girls

This is so painful, Fabian needs something. I don't know what but God he need something

THIRTY TWO????

Fabian stress token

Walking store Adaine

ya hoo

av class 🔥🔥🔥

i need art of fishing club Riz just goin' fishing

NAT ONE THAT BECOMES A 10

Gorgug & Riz joint birthday party!!!!

17 having a ice cream party sounds absolutely lit

SELF INSERT PC CLARK

Gorbag and Roz!!!

goodbye lucilla she's gone to the skies

"I think you're being weird here"

oh my god fig

Fig is having a strange day

"Why can't I tell him he's weird"

A YOGURT YEAR

"Haha! Counterspell! ♪"

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me."

oh my god Brennan said teenage rebellion.... just like... just like the song teenage rebellion... T-T-T-TAKING OVER TEENAGE REBELLION IT'S OUT TIME IT'S OUR YEAR—

"Can I take a stress for Kristen"

Riz is the only character allowed to take a stress for another person

popular kid Kristen!!!!

"Anyone who think he's cool" me too I fall in love with everyone who thinks I'm cool

alter emo hauntings a kid's dreams

"Not All Who Wanda Are Lost" single released on all listening platforms. 1 mil listens in a week

oh no...... this is going to be awful and awkward.

ohhhhhh....... ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh...... Fabian.......... This is painful........

Ivy is catching these hands, leave my girl Mazey alone

"You missed your shot, playboy" no he has a call with his bank

Riz is at his conspiracy board

Something does feel off about grix

Everyone has a stress token

"Go roll me a corrupted bardic"

Even I'm grieving Lucy, she sounds lovely...

oh there's something deep going on with lucy

"It's the boss, baby"

Murph has figured it OUT

The epic music

This stress system is making me STRESSED

I relate to the stress causing antisocial things

LYDIA!!!!!!!!!

ohhhhhh goodness.....