#i dont know why i feel like guys have the most charm in this medium

[chimeofthecomet]

musical theatre will give u a pretty boy running on three hours of sleep and a dream and every time i’ll swoon

[autisticandroids]

15, 21, 23?

15. something you learned this year

i don't know if i can say i learned a new skill as such. but one thing is like... i really enjoyed making three card stud. and it really opened my eyes to like, how much of what i like about the practice of fanfiction is the meticulous remixing/reinterpretation of canon. there's a way in which the AMV is a more... analytical art form than the fanfic, because you are literally forced by the constraints of the medium to keep to the text. all you have are song lyrics and the kuleshov effect to convince your audience to take the new meaning you intend to convey from stuff already in the show. and i brought that ethos to three card stud even though i did add stuff. in a lot of ways three card stud was just me listing off things from canon i think a lot about and saying eh? eh? like. hoping the context would make it clear *why* this stuff makes me crazy. and i think that was a lot of the motivation behind the fic i'm currently working on, which is about dean and cas getting caught by the police. that fic at this point is mostly lists of things that have happened in spn episodes, placed in a new context by baffled feds and cops. which is the fun part. so like basically i learned that this is really fun, listing off canon facts in a new context

21. most memorable comment/review

so the most memorable traditional comment as such i got was probably this one, on i fold in half so easily (ifihse tends to generate the best comments because it's extremely dark without the ways in which it is dark being obviously flagged. so people are more shocked and more forced to think). "Cas: no officer i am very happy please dont tell dean im emotionally complex" is so funny and true that's literally what happens in that fic.

another top contender is this one, on getting serious, which generates good comments for the same reason ifihse does, though it's a lot less intense.

but in terms of my favorite *response to my work,* it was the breastfeeding anon saga (in chronological order here) which was a response to my fic smorgasbord.

and then i wrote a fic based on those anons, and then i got these very funny tags on my fic post:

23. fics you wanted to write but didn’t

when i tell you about the 120k deanvictor fic which is literally 90k of victor henriksen hunting down a serial killer dean winchester while becoming a little (sexually) obsessed with him and then 30k of victor knowing about the supernatural and moonlighting as a hunter while he and dean suck each others dicks so much.

and also it's about victor's relationship with his two ex wives and his former stepdaughter who he is still emotionally a parent to even though they have no legal relationship and the coworker he had an emotional affair with who he doesn't speak to anymore and how he feels trapped in his life and his job and dean represents this escape for him this total freedom. just living in his car on the road and not having to worry about what your boss thinks or needing to quit smoking. while for dean victor represents this stability and adulthood dean can never achieve. and dean leaves three spare pairs of underwear in victor's divorcé bachelor pad as a kind of little... fantasy. of what life could be like.

anyway the most compelling scene from that, IN MY MIND, is a scene where victor STILL thinks dean is a serial killer. and now he has him in custody. and against his will he's... charmed. by dean. because dean is charming and pathetic, shaking and sweating from mild alcohol withdrawal but still cracking jokes and being friendly and observant and extremely young-feeling, for 28. and earnest in a way he didn't expect. and they're forced to work together against a demon siege, a spin on jus in bello where victor still doesn't find out about the supernatural he's just protecting himself and a prisoner from a threat. and he has the uncomfortable realization that he's attracted to dean winchester (serial killer) (guy he is trying to take down) (has killed so so many people). and he's like well. we can table that for later. and then dean escapes.

so i've been trying to figure out a way to scoop out just that scene and turn it into its own fic because that's actually manageable for me.

the dean and cas pursued by the cops idea also comes a bit from frustration that i can't write this, though the feds in that one are ocs bc it's later.

from here

[lokisivy]

HATING LOVE - Klaus Mikaelson part 5

part 5

DISCLAIMER This isn't lined up with the tvd verse plot just read it as a story

Your pov

It's been 2 weeks since I've seen Klaus.

I decided not to let him confuse me. I'm going to start uni in spring. I don't need him to distract me. What happened at the gym cost me my life, and being close to someone like that isn't going to be good.

I found an apartment near campus it was nice it had a nice view of the city, I didn't find a place to turn in, so I guess I'll have to drive to mystic falls for Turing.

I have this feeling that someone is watching me, I don't know if I'm being paranoid or if someone is actually watching me.

i heard rumours of vampires and witches living here. I could smell the vampire odour from a guy named marcel. I met him at a bar and he bought me a drink.

now as charming and lovable as he is I'm not going to fall for vampires.

He invited me to a masquerade Gala where we dressed up into stuff?

I dont think i will go, but maybe it would be an opportunity to make friends.

A part of me wants to be a part of the supernatural because it defines me. Putting it away in a little box under the bed won't bring me any closure.

...

Here I am saying I won't go but standing in front of the mirror, adding the last touches to my makeup.

I put away my mascara and run my hands to smooth my silk dress

It is a medium-length black with a slit on the side. It's not too tight.

I started heading to the location on the invitation it was close to my apartment so I didn't need a cab.

I Entered this beautiful compound it was decorated in blue, and confetti was falling. Dancers swinging.

Damn, that's too formal I should've dressed up more. I went in deeper into the compound trying to find Marcel he was standing with a Vampire when he caught me in sight he started walking toward me with a grin on his face.

"Y/N, I'm so glad you could make it!" He approached me and gave me a small hug.

"What do we have here." A deep accent said behind Marcel.

you know when people say their heart drops when something scary happens. well, that's one of them.

was he following me?

why did he come here?

is he after me?

"This is my friend Klaus." he introduced me to the man that I already know.

"I know.."

I'm sure I look like a ghost took my soul.

"Yeah, mutal friends she is friends with Rebekah."

I just stood there too stunned to speak.

"Y/N are you okay?" Marcel asked

"Yeah, I'm gonna go say hi to Rebekah."

i walk blinded by my thoughts i honestly don't know where I'm walking too.

how does he know I'm here?

why is he here?

is he gonna torment me like he did with Kathrine?

the air stuck in my throat I couldn't breathe properly my head is foggy I can't see anything I try to find the bathroom but I can't the panic keeps rising I tried to get air in my lungs but I can't it is like I'm slowly suffocating to death.

I find a small dark corner in the compound trying to calm myself down.

Inhale 1 2 3 exhale 3 2 1. i repeat those to prevent any panic attacks from rising.

I go back to the party trying to enjoy myself ignoring Klaus's existence, drinking and getting wasted. definitely not the place for it but I need this.

Rebekah Met me at the bar while I was getting my 10th drink

"You know you can't get drunk on champagne. Especially with your immune system."

"Well, your brother is coming to hunt me forever, so I might as well make the most of it."

She looks at me not saying a single word

"Oh my god, he is coming here to kill me."

"I tried to stop him but he seems to not understand the difference between love and hate."

"Come on Rebekah he isn't capable of love he is a monster." chugging on the rest of the drink.

"Okay go easy on the drinks." she takes the cup from me

she takes me far away from the party into a dark hallway. Isn't this where witches stay

"He can't hear us now," she said

"I have a plan I just need you to trust me please," she said pleading

"How can I trust you Rebekah you stood there next to him while he killed my friend and he almost did that to me too."

"I know but trust me, and Elijah has a plan."

"Oh god, another Original in the mix and you think that would make me trust you more." I scoff

"I know it's hard for you to trust anyone now but when I give my word to you that I mean you no harm." another voice chimes in, Elijah.

"Why?"

this was all weird I had this feeling this wasn't about me there was something they were not telling me.

"Why do you guys care about my well-being I'm just a normal mortal who you snack on on Sundays."

they both stayed silent making me more irritated.

"We think you are carrying Klaus's child," she said in utter seriousness

"Vampires can't procreate what are you on?" I laughed at her

"I heard 2 heartbeats while I was with Klaus that night at the school gym."

"You must have heard it wrong I can't be pregnant it is impossible."

"We can hear it right now," Elijah said.

"But there is no way-"

"We are here so these witches can help you find out."

As much as I was not believing any of this, the witches confirmed it was Klaus's by drawing blood from me and Elijah. It means that they are helping me just for this miracle, baby. I'm carrying

"It must've been the wolf DNA in both of them that made this happen."

"I drank a lot. Doesn't this kill babies?"

"Well, it's okay to consume some early in the first trimester." the witch says

I get up fast to home I really wanna get out of here as fast as I can

"Y/N where are you going?" Rebekah chased me

"Home Rebekah this is bullshit that isn't gonna stop him from killing me ill go pack a bag and run away I can't do this I just started my life I'm not one thousand years old like you guys!" tears started to form in my eyes

"I can't do this I cant-"

"You are not alone we are here for you we won't let anyone harm you, darling," Elijah says

"Just breath don't panic."

"Klaus is on his way we can all discuss this without killing."

[misterbitches]

some thots. having a bad time so this is rougher than usual. oh well

....

i guess he really does know hiim best cos if that was my mans (man specifically cos if anyone else did that id take it more srsly) i would be like oh my god ur singing me a love song? i would love it but i woudl SCREAM in embarrassment. UNLESS it was a really deep love song that's about us dying together.

like i want to eat ur skin type of thing (drain u nirvana) lmaoa but i really like this song it reminds me of that velvet underground song (the only one i know cos of juno lmao) and nico or whatever 'i'm sticking with you)

my adhd would be out of fucking control i had to spend my time listening to this looking around i kept getting distracted by a tissue and thinking "wow this song is nice but i wish it would end bc i am getting distracted" and lo and behold i paused it and i have to pee and i know it's gonna take forever to undo this

ok about 12m later i turned it back on and they kissed and then he bit the corn then that night li chen also lost his virgin teas after watching gay porn and being like "hm interesting" and he'll be like "i see, ur dick is not medium sized"

i'm honestly gagging i cannot at this 12 year old marrying his mom

beautiful theyre beautiful

ayea you fucking psycho we do too because he was 17 and we had to witness it (or well, other people did cos i didnt watch the show even tho wayne song is [BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEP BEEEEP] and i want him to [BEEEEEEEP] and ppl even liked it which is fine like i get it in theory but they put this in my eyeballs so i'm gonna make fun of it bc it's fuckin DUMB lmao like i can't I CANNOT and he said "u were so persistent" BITCH UR 30??!?!???!?!?!?)capi hve it on mute and i tried to get a screencap of li chen and mu ren like together and not just his face but i cant find the timestamp and seeing their faces as they get married is literalyl traumattizing i'm like scremaing at my screen going "HE'S 5 HE'S 5 HE'S 5" and every time theyre like "we acn live forever together" like no bitch ur bones rae creaking

also is the officiator white? if anyone knows why or if that's common i'd love to know more. EDIT: HE ISN'T I JUST THOUGHT HE LOOKED LIKE MOBY FROM THAT ANGLE

anyway here

i'm almost done with this fucking bullshit and i am in a really ould mood and usu they make it a bit better but imo it's kind of....annoying i guess balancing all these story elements and introducin gother couples (even in the periphery) since the story in itself can't focus. i feel like all in all the time spent with these two is a lot more limited and we get the feel for the rship because of their chemistry as actors, irl chemistry as friends and colleagues, and hopefully being happy and working on a good set. so it isn't the strength of the writing or production.

for some reason they get like less dynamic ways of being together which i think is part of their charm, they do things their own way, but the writers really should have substantiated this more. it's really just the way everyone in the show has managed to deliver these AWFUL story lines and production decisions (like seriously who the fuck was on costume? lighting?)

like maybe hot take but all the moments that are cringe and insane in the show are not pleasant, per se, because they aren't thought out clearly. so they're not a joy to watch in the normal sense but the actors are good enough to pull it off. i didn't cringe at the talks they had because it felt like actors like acting these lines out instead of us being embarrassed for it and you CAN TELL theyre embarrassed.

this is a huge kudos to the casting director and the actors and whatever crew that actually did a good job. i don't particularly like watching bo xiang and his grandfather husband not because of the content but because i feel like, to me, they're so awkward even though they have chemistry. i don't have that issue with xing si and his rapist brother boyfriend because watching them is actually really pleasant, it's intimate. this isn't to do with the story though because when it hits you how devoid this other person is and how stupid the situation is it changes (for me, for me, for me, this is all my opinion think whateverrrr u want im not telling u 2 ok!)

so truly kudos to this cast. idk if i'm misremembering here but imo the most cast appropriate series in this was crossing the line and close to you. one is a decent atmosphere and execution (yes even with that brother story line, notice the major key differences though because that's a sincere false equivalence. they try to execute power imbalances soooo badly and then fail every time but here's one meant to shock too and it was just likelmao ok girl?)

it may not make sense to say either in a writing way or for the character to do it but i believe that whoever the characters these people are supposed to be especially those super not well written on the page still get that message aacross (yong jie's actor is a good ex. not sure if i should ccongratulate him for having the worst job on earth and the worst character and his character is flat but. ostensibly they should let their actions speak for themselevs but what they do is they back themselves into a ccorner with unsuretyabout their characters or a dilemma that pops up they just want to excuse it. well guess hwat u couldnt do enough legwork. but to some extent the disposable side couple works here on a um "our eyes see them and get it" way

also to me it seems like they chose this story just to have this specific wedding. like it's a timely topic and i'm pretty sure like another provision? (correction? idk) was made WRT taiwanese same-sex marriage so it's topical but it isn't like a "papa and daddy" situation where they're interacting in it and there (for ex: the pride parade) and there being like real life terms and consequences. here it seems like they were like ah yes wedding ah yes dumb couple from modc bc we kiled off the other one sooooo (then outsource them to life love on the line u__u) then hamfisting in some fucking message which is funny bc

- despite the hints peppered in and the clear attraction they both acknowledge ur like ~not gay just him~ even tho...i mean i just. again they dont read over what they write i don't think considering. but wahtever.

- the only gay dude (verbally said) is with his rapist brother with an awful power dynamic oh or IS a rapist (gao) (or his brother but i think it was just a "im a psycho so it's him" thing unless they said it. in which case idc cos i wasnt paying attn but that's also not great) or i guess the wedding but like....that's also a ridiculously inappropriate and dumb relationship taht it's built on. i mean i don't really see much respect her so i dont particularly want to hear abt gay weddings being important when they didn't even utilize it in the story beforehand and have we ever. this is a huge indication to me that it was a reverse engineered chosen story beforehand (if it was one) or thought of

soooooo

so reversal of that....it didnt give us enough time to breathe with these two at all but for both of the actors they can capitalize what's on the page and the writers didn't. like their dynamic is very i give/you give like taking car eof each other etc that's why

again, no artist worth their salt will ever say their work meant nothing. that's a cover up. i'm sick of lazy production and then getting away with it claiming being subversive or attacking an issue by not doing anything. we show crazy shit all the time but it has a POINT and ur point is "i like the gays" then girl.....i mean it's not great

but the acting really carried it. i have a feeling if this series continues it might continue to use more experienced actors cos maybe the budget goes up but they also have less inhibitions now when it comes to acting. i like the way li chen expresss himself and teng teng too. i like anson a lot and there's some angles that did not do any favors and i think eh has to get more control of his body movements (bc he's SO LARGE and thin) but he wasn't bad at all and there were real human tears. of course i, personally, favor charles tu. he has more control over his body because he has...less to work with and he's a bit bigger and he was really great in this role. he's a himbo a bit of a meathead but you like him. you like them. there's some things i think they had them say and do that they wouldn't let happen if they stuck to the characters and the story (mainly liking that dumb idiot rapist)

what i notice is that the reprehensible actions people criticize others for in the show and in real human life lalways gets turned around. teng teng being surprised that this boy's grandfather boyfriend met him when he was a junior in high school and he's 12 years older and him apologizing for being shocked and then whatshisface going "ur better at it than most people" and then the convo about gao with whatshisface and then rapist brother comes to pick him up. they are admonishing gao but thinking that rapist brother is noble for doin gwhat he did (and oh rapist brother shows up) like the hypocrisy and the decisions are immense. so now it's like "guys see he's a great guy" like girl STICK TO SOMETHING but whatever so i live in this universe where muren and li chen do everything right and have lots of different interesting fun seex with all their friends. i would write this but i cannot i am dying

[kingjasnah]

Is there the full list of brandersons favourite games reposted somewhere?

i dont think so? or not that ive seen. u can literally just sign up for the newsletter on his website but screw it ill just post them for u. it sure was a TRIP scrolling past these to get to the interlude though. undertale is on this list.....im shakign at the thought that adolin was based off ff10 tidus but i cant get it out of my head now

#10: Katamari Damaci

I love things that make me look at the world in a new way. Katamari did this in spades. It is an imaginative, bizarre vision with unique gameplay. It is like nothing else in the world and I love it for all its strangeness and occasional lack of gameplay polish.

I was transfixed the first time I played it, and have looked forward to it being remade and rereleased on multiple different consoles. I love the cute—and somehow creepy at the same time—storyline. It feels like a fever dream more than a game sometimes, and is probably the closest I’ll ever get to understanding what it’s like to do drugs.

#9: Undertale

This is an oddball on this list because I think it’s the only game that is not a franchise from a major studio—but is instead an indie game, which I believe was originally funded on Kickstarter.I loved how this felt like a novel as much as a game. It was one person’s vision; a single story told really well, with a huge amount of personality. The humor was just my kind of wonderful/terrible, and I was instantly enamored with the characters.That probably would have been enough, but it is a nice deconstruction of video games as a medium—and has not one, but multiple innovative gameplay mechanics. Together, the package left me enamored. This is a work of genius that I feel everyone should at least try, even if it ends up not being for them.

#8: Fallout: New Vegas

I have played all of the core Fallout games, and I was one of the (it seems few) who was really excited when it moved from turn-based tactics to first-person shooter. While Fallout 3 was good, it didn’t have the charm of the first two.New Vegas delivered on everything I was hoping to see. The charm was back, the writing sharp, the quests imaginative. The gameplay was engaging and branched in a variety of directions, the gunplay was solid, and the atmosphere immersive. I of course love the first two games in the series—but New Vegas combines everything I like in gaming into one package. (As a note, I own the Outer Worlds, and am looking forward to digging into it. Consider this item on the list a recommendation of other Obsidian games—like Knights of the Old Republic Two—regardless of genre, as I’ve found them universally to be superior to their contemporaries.)

#7 Super Mario World

When I was eleven, I flew (alone, which was very exciting to me) from Nebraska to visit my uncle Devon in Salt Lake City. Before I left, my father gave me $200 and told me to pay for my own meals while on the trip—but of course, my uncle didn’t allow this. At the end of the trip, I tried to give him the money, which he wouldn’t take.I mentioned my dad would take the money back when I got home, but that was okay. Well, my uncle would have none of that, and drove me to the local mall and made me spend it on a Nintendo Entertainment System. (This uncle, you might guess, is an awesome human being.)Since that day of first plugging it in and experiencing Mario for the first time, I was hooked. This is the only platformer on the list, as I don’t love those. But one makes an exception for Mario. There’s just so much polish, so much elegance to the control schemes, that even a guy who prefers an FPS or an RPG like me has to admit these are great games. I picked World as my favorite as it’s the one I’ve gone back to and played the most.

#7: The Curse of Monkey Island (Monkey Island 3)

I kind of miss the golden age of adventure gaming, and I don’t know that anyone ever got it as right as they did with this game. It is the pinnacle of the genre, in my opinion—no offense to Grim Fandango fans.This game came out right before gaming’s awkward teenage phase where everything moved to 3-d polygons. For a while after, games looked pretty bad, though they could do more because of the swap. But if you want to go see what life was like before that change, play Monkey Island 3. Composed of beautiful art pieces that look like cells from Disney movies, with streamlined controls (the genre had come a long way from “Get yon torch”) and fantastic voice acting, this game still plays really well.This is one of the few games I’ve been able to get my non-gamer wife to play through with me, and it worked really well as a co-op game with the two of us trying to talk through problems. It’s a lovingly crafted time capsule of a previous era of gaming, and if you missed it, it’s really worth trying all these years later. (The first and second games hold up surprisingly well too, as a note, particularly with the redone art that came out a decade or so ago.)Also, again, this one has my kind of humor.

#6: Breath of the Wild

I never thought a Zelda game would unseat A Link to the Past as my favorite Zelda, but Breath of the Wild managed it. It combined the magic of classic gameplay with modern design aesthetic, and I loved this game.There’s not a lot to say about it that others haven’t said before, but I particularly liked how it took the elements of the previous games in the series (giving you specific tools to beat specific challenges) and let you have them all at once. I like how the dungeons became little mini puzzles to beat, instead of (sometimes seemingly endless) slogs to get through. I liked the exploration, the fluidity of the controls, and the use of a non-linear narrative in flashbacks. It’s worth buying a Switch just to play this one and Mario—but in case you want, you can also play Dark Souls on Switch... (That’s foreshadowing.)

#5: Halo 2

Telling stories about Halo Two on stream is what made me think of writing this list.I’m sometimes surprised that this game isn’t talked about as much as I think it should be. Granted, the franchise is very popular—but people tend to love either Reach or games 1 or 3 more than two. Two, however, is the only one I ever wanted to replay—and I’ve done so three or four times at this point. (It’s also the only one I ever beat on Legendary.)It’s made me think on why I love this one, while so many others seem to just consider it one of many in a strong—but in many ways unexceptional—series of games. I think part of this is because I focus primarily on the single-player aspects of a game (which is why there aren’t any MMOs on this list.) Others prefer Halo games with more balanced/polished multiplayer. But I like to game by myself, and don’t really look for a multiplayer experience. (Though this is changing as I game with my sons more and more.)I really like good writing—which I suppose you’d expect. But in games, I specifically prefer writing that enhances the style of game I’m playing. Just dumping a bunch of story on me isn’t enough; it has to be suited to the gameplay and the feel of the game. In that context, I’ve rarely encountered writing as good as Halo 2. From the opening—with the intercutting and juxtaposition of the two narratives—to the quotes barked out by the marines, the writing in this game is great. It stands out starkly against other Halo games, to the point that I wonder what the difference is.Yes, Halo Two is a bombastic hero fantasy about a super soldier stomping aliens. But it has subtle, yet powerful worldbuilding sprinkled all through it—and the music...it does things with the story that I envy. It’s kind of cheating that games and films get to have powerful scores to help with mood.The guns in Two feel so much better than Halo One, and the vehicles drive far better. The only complaint I have is that it’s only half a story—as in, Halo 2 and 3 seem like they were one game broken in two pieces. And while 3 is good (and Reach does something different, which I approve of in general) neither did it for me the way Two did, and continues to do.

#3: Final Fantasy X

You probably knew Final Fantasy was coming. People often ask if the way these games handle magic was an influence upon me. All I can say is that I’ve played them since the first one, and so they’re bound to have had an influence.On one hand, these games are really strange. I mean, I don’t think we gamers stop quite often enough to note how downright bizarre this series gets. Final Fantasy doesn’t always make the most sense—but the games are always ambitious.Ten is my favorite for a couple of reasons. I felt like the worldbuilding was among the strongest, and I really connected with the characters. That’s strange, because this is one of the FF games without an angst-filled teen as the protagonist. Instead, it has a kind of stable happy-go-lucky jock as the protagonist.But that’s what I needed, right then. A game that didn’t give me the same old protagonist, but instead gave me someone new and showed me I could bond to them just as well. Ten was the first with full voice acting, and that jump added a lot for me. It has my favorite music of the series, and all together is what I consider the perfect final fantasy game. (Though admittedly, I find it more and more difficult to get into turn-based battle mechanics as I grow older.)

#2: Bloodborne

Those who follow my streams, or who read other interviews I’ve done, probably expected this series to be at or near the top. The question wasn’t whether Souls would be here, but which one to pick as my favorite.I went with Bloodborne, though it could have been any of them. (Even Dark Souls 2—which I really like, despite its reputation in the fandom.) I’ve been following FromSoftware’s games since the King’s Field games, and Demon’s Souls was a huge triumph—with the director Hidetaka Miyazaki deserving much of the praise for its design, and Dark Souls (which is really just a more polished version of Demon’s Souls).As I am a fan of cosmic horror, Bloodborne is probably my favorite overall. It really hit the mix of cosmic and gothic horror perfectly. It forced me to change up my gameplay from the other Souls games, and I loved the beautiful visuals.I am a fan of hard games—but I like hard games that are what I consider “fair.” (For example, I don’t love those impossible fan-made Mario levels, or many of the super-crazy “bullet hell”-style games.) Dark Souls is a different kind of hard. Difficult like a stern instructor, expecting you to learn—but giving you the tools to do so. It presents a challenge, rather than being hard just to be hard.If I have a problem with Final Fantasy, it’s that the games sometimes feel like the gameplay is an afterthought to telling the story. But in the Souls games, story and gameplay are intermixed in a way I’d never seen done before. You have to construct the story like an archeologist, using dialogue and lore from descriptions of in-game objects. I find this fascinating; the series tells stories in a way a book never could. I’m always glad when a game series can show off the specific strengths of the medium.In fact, this series would be #1 except for the little fact that I have way too much time on Steam logged playing...

#1: Civilization VI

This series had to take #1 by sheer weight of gameplay time. I discovered the first on a friend’s computer in the dorms my freshman year—and I can still remember the feeling of the birds chirping outside, realizing I’d been playing all night and really should get back to my own dorm room.That still happens, and has happened, with every game in the series. I have a lot of thoughts on this series, many of them granular and too specific for this list. (Like, it’s obvious AI technology isn’t up to the task of playing a game this complex—so could we instead get a roguelike set of modifiers, game modes, etc. to liven up the games, rather than just having a difficulty slider that changes a few simple aspects of the game?)I’ll try not to rant, because I really do love this game series. A lot of people consider IV to be the pinnacle of the series, but after V unstacked units—and VI unstacked cities—there was no way I could ever go back. If for some reason, you’ve never played this grand patriarch of the 4X game genre, it’s about starting with a single stone-age settler who can found a city—then playing through eras of a civilization, growing your empire, to try to eventually get offworld with a space program. (Or, if you prefer, conquering the world.)It’s a load of fun in the way I like to have fun, and I feel like the series has only gotten better over the years. My hat is off to the developers, who keep reinventing the series, rather than making the exact same game over and over.Now, about that request for difficulty modes...

there are runner ups but for the sake of anyone whos on mobile and cant get past a read more (first of all omg im SO sorry) ill refrain. anyway he thought WHAT loz game was the best before botw?

[comicteaparty]

January 15th-January 21st, 2020 Reader Favorites Archive

The archive for the Reader Favorites chat that occurred from January 15th, 2020 to January 21st, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What sort of merchandise are you most likely to buy for webcomics you read and why?

carcarchu

does a physical copy of the book count as merch? nothing compares to the feel of a real book in your hands and watching my collection grow is so satisfying. i like having a tangible way to show my support. after that is small prints. i rarely see acrylic charms of webcomic characters but those are nice too

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I know I'm particularly weak for enamel pins - which happen to be the first major merch I made for my first time tabling at a con. They're definitely the most common thing for me to consider purchasing from others. I also like small prints and stickers! And if a particularly cute character is somehow made into a plush... I'd be all over that, too.

Cronaj

For me, I love physical comics. So if a webcomic creator made a physical print version of their comic, that would be the best way to entice me to buy something. Comics almost always look better on paper in my opinion, and I'm a weirdo when it comes to book smell I sniff new books like an absolute degenerate. The other thing I would buy is art prints or art books. I have a huuuuge collection of art prints from creators I admire. So keep 'em comin'! I mean, I'll buy any merch that calls to me, but usually if I can't put it on a shelf, hang it on the wall, or wear it, I probably have no use for it.

Capitania do Azar

I'm a big fan of physical copies and charms of all kinds! I also appreciate stickers and small prints (big prints are nice, but take up a lot of space). Zines with side stories or related/concept art are also a good choice

keii4ii

Storage is a big issue for me, so I tend to not buy physical books unless like... it's a comic I would love to read but can't do so online easily (e.g. if the website doesn't function properly on my computer) I really like prints that have qualities/features that can't be replicated digitally -- e.g. foil, holo coating, VERY special paper texture, etc. (I've even seen one artist offer lenticular prints which I thought was awesome -- just wasn't into the characters that were on the art) Small to medium sized prints are fairly easy to store, so that's also a big plus for me! Also, clear plastic folders? I've never bought them admittedly, but those can look SO nice with the right type of art (some artworks look so special when printed on that clear material). I wish more people offered them so I could actually buy these, but I understand they can be costly to print.

Tired Programmer

I would buy physical copies as well. About the storage issue... Well, when I understand, that there are too many of them for my humble bookcase, I just sell or give old ones away. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ And also stickers. Stickers rock. (edited)

SAWHAND

I agree! If I really like the comic I like to have a physical copy! It feels special since I think a lot of times they're limited printing. I also really like stickers since they can just get put on something I already have and thus not take up extra space. I generally don't get prints because wall space is at a premium and I feel silly not having them hung up, but that's just a personal preference. Other than that it would have to be something really cool or something with function, like a notebook or...I don't know, an apron, or maaaybe a t-shirt.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Printed comics are definitely my go to fav especially if it's a webcomic I've been really wanting to read but haven't had the time to do it online. Sitting down with a book is a lot easier for me that sitting with my phone or pulling my laptop out. I do also like stickers a lot. I've really gotten into covering the inside covers of my sketchbooks with them the last few years X)

kayotics

I usually go for printed books, pins, or plushies. If there’s a Kickstarter happening I’ll usually splurge for a pin tier if it exists. I don’t use stickers that much but I know a lot of people love them? But it’s not my thing.(edited)

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Usually printed books and phone charms. I will always buy webcomics that go to print and I collect charms. Other things like stickers and pins are nice, but often too pricey. I will go for them when they're bundled into KS tiers with printed books, though.

varethane

Printed books for me! Sometimes stickers, and sometimes enamel pina

Pins

I dont tend to get prints because I wont really do anything with them

(But my prints tend to sell decently, so there is a market for them out there...)

keii4ii

I just like collecting prints! I don't even put them on my wall, I just stick them in a binder kind of like my own custom-curated artbook

I really like seeing the combination of certain artworks and certain paper textures!

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

omg Kei...why have I not thought of that ?? I will now do that for all the print i've collected gosh!! and I agree with Vare, books are top tier merch I go for (zines included) Prints are a second for me, with charms and pins being the thing i least go for bc of space (though I am seeing pin boards come into fashion and I'm def into doing that as well!)

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I do really love pins too, I'm just really bad at remembering to wear them. I probably should get myself one of those clear back packs con goers wear.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

oh yes ita bags!

varethane

The problem with me wearing pins is that I normally bike everywhere, while wearing a backpack

So if I put them on a jacket, the straps of the bag will rub on most of the good pin locations

And if they fall off while I'm riding my bike they are lost forever

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I tried putting pins on my backpack for a while.... only to come home and realise they fell off at some point during the day.

varethane

Yeah :(

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Ita bag! Yes! Lol I'm always super scared that my pins will just break and I'll loose them X') so when I do remember to wear one I'm constantly checking to make sure it's still on me

varethane

I have one jacket that I've been putting most of my pins on, which I wear to conventions

And it did pretty well except my rice boy pin fell off somewhere in the Seattle airport and is now lost forever :(

Betrayal......

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

i have def...super glued pins to my backpack before and the rubber backings are so bad for pins too bc they never hold

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Oh, patches are another thing, like pins, that I love but usually have to stop myself from getting. I need to find a good patch jacket, because I really love a patch. I've been wanting to make one for my own comic merch for a while too.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

ohhh yes same-- i stll have patches that i havent done anything yet with bc i haven't found The Right Jacket

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Same TuT

Eightfish

I've got the Property of Hate tarot postcards up on my wall right now. Also partial to a good enamel pin. What I'd love to see in merch is a well designed, stylish shirt, but haven't really found that so far. I find webcomic shirts tend to be too detailed and illustration-y to look good as shirts, and would prefer something more graphic.

Q @CecilieQMT making WAYFINDERS

I'd love to design shirts! Just haven't figured out how to get them printed properly... ^^'

RebelVampire

For me, it's digital copies. So PDFs and eBooks. Unlike many people here, I can't stand print copies for a myriad of reasons. XD But digital copies I can get behind cause it supports the artist, has some nice bonus stuff sometimes, and generally collects everything nicely so some website hiccups aren't a problem. While this has never come up because it's rare, I would also buy plushies. Cause one can never have enough plushies. But alas, I don't think the market is there for that XD

kayotics

Plushies are just really hard to produce and store, same with T-shirts

Well, T-shirts aren’t that hard to produce, but they’re hard to store and keep a good amount of sizes

Mei

I tend to buy books/physical copies of webcomics I like! I really enjoy the physical reading experience! I also really like buying enamel or non-enamel pins. I enjoy collecting them, but going off what people have already said, I also have an innate fear of losing them :(

AntiBunny

If it has a cute character, and the price is in my budget, plushies are awesome. Unfortunately that's a difficult one to do, because small batches of plush that are build by hand are going to be expensive, and a comic has to be very popular to warrant more economical large runs. And I'll also say physical books.

Mei

plushies ARE awesome

I got the coyote plushie from Tom, the guy who does Gunnerkrigg Court

I just really love it

and also I couldn't decide which of the MANY volumes of comics to buy

(i didn't and still don't have space to stock up on a lot of books so I must be prudent sometimes)

((but my bed always has space for plushies))

[veratnetherstriker]

A little appreciation and criticism about the Scps

Im a huge fan of the SCP fundation and all the people who made them, i just love the way they are writen and the originalaty behind such ideas, but lets be honest, no one is perfect. Soo, im just going to do a little recopilation of a few of the most popular Scps of all time and the reasons why i like them and how i think they could (if they should) improve. This will be just my personal opinion, and in any way it should be taken as the one true of the universe(like i said, no one is perfect). Plus, my main lenguage isnt the english but i know that this way this will reach to more people, soo sorry for all the gramatical errors from the starts. 

That said, lets dive in this terrorific, yet beatifull, world: 

Who else should start this list right? Good old ‘’fetus statue’’ (name copyrighted by my ex) is a classic at this time, the one that started all, the first the most of us saw for the first time, and the one that make the bases for what was to come. And is a pretry good start. 173, a creepy af statue that dost move until nobody is watching him, but when he do, someones dies. An idea soo good that im really surprise nobody in hollywood ripped off yet. An amazing example of creativity and creepynes alike, the only fault i could find him is the way right now he is everywhere and, kind of slendy in the past, that ruin part of the charm of a creepy internet story. But that is not his fault, and more something that is destined to happen with all popular monsters. We love you fucking 173, never change you fucking weirdo.

9/10

106, AKA radical larry for the pals. Tell my if this asshole never give you chills in any of the games?? His capacity of rust everything (even your body)  and his inhuman, sadistic motives of ‘’prey humans for fun’’ make him the closest SCP has ever get to a hollywood horror movie creation, but even for that standar he is particullary creepy and original, both in how to kill you (the first time in the pocket dimension in CB is a wonderfull yet terrible experience) and why to kill you. Because he is an asshole, that is why he is going to kill you. Good luck asuming that. 

8/10

The people who are just entering the world of SCP should be very cofunsed right now. ‘’A stair? why is a stair an scp?’’. But the people who know this thing, and the things that live in him (her? it?) know why im talking about it (him? her?). The idea of a never ending stair that just get creeepier with every step you make, amazing. And the creatures that lurk in it dont help. That said, i do find him a little limited in the ways this story could scare you. With 106 we have a full fan of posibilities to scare , and with 173 a constant tension, here you have to start decending into the stair(it then) and that do seem a little forced.  

7/10

Aaaaaah 049... you are a miracle that could only happen in the SCP community. Our good doctor could soo easily become a basic self insertion gary stu, both for being humanoid(we all know is a common problem with this tipe of character) and for the edgy  medieval style of clothes, but nope, he is just a weird, disturbing, cool character with original ideas behind like every good scp should be. His only problems (besides every fangirl trying to bang him or taking him as a jeff the killer wannabe) is maybe his unnoriginal result (zombie people are kind of overused nowdays) but still his fight against ‘’the disase’’ together with his misterius and cool aparence make a good example of how to make a good humanoid scp.

7/10

...and for the exact contrary we have this idiot. Cool blades made of darkness, demonic tatoos, an unstopable capacity for killing even when he has no reason to have that inhuman strengh, forced religious context just for the sake of cool. My god, i know this may offend some fans but this guy is bad guys. I mean, really bad. He has no build up, no fear or paranormal factor beside the ‘’im soo cool they have to make me an scp’’ and the blades things (wich falls in the ‘’cool’’ stuff too). And yet he is one of the ‘’fanarted’’ (copyrighted by my this time) Scps ever. Why? Well for the same reason jeff the killer ended with most popularaty than slenderman even when Slendy is far better as a character and story. Because he is hot, easily identificable as an self insert fantasy for the edgy boys back in the 2000s, has a looooot of ‘’cool’’ stuff that atract fanboys(and girls) and soo darn cool isnt he?

Put him in line with the others until now and the ones to come and tell me if you dont give everyone else a cool yet creepy horror music, and then give this asshole a linkin park theme. He is that bad. (I love LP btw but you understand)

Im not saying that humanoid SCPs are bad per se(see 049 above), but Able is the perfect example of how you NOT make one. You dont give him like 5 superpowers together at once. You dont make him look like a generic antihero from a shonnen. You dont make him have ‘’cool’’ stuff just for the sake of him being cool. The only reasons why he is here is for : A- serve as a  good example of how to NOT make humanoids scps, B-  comparing to good humanods scps despise his fame, and C- give some credit to the person that change him. Yes, he used to be worse, and someone(not sure if was the original author) rewrite him to be more a ‘’xmen that got mad’’ and less a ‘’Generic Sasuke Uchiha who is soo cool they had to cointan him.’’ D- I have to show at least 1 bad Scp. 

3/10 (and just for the rewrite)

We pass from a character boring as a machine to a litteral machine far more interesting. 079 is the perfect scp objetivly speaking for me. He have all the things wich make scp fundation works. He is disturbing, yet sad. He is a monster, yet has some form of humanity that make us feel sorry for him, yet fear him notheless. We want him to get free but we fear what he could do being free. We know he isnt human yet we identify with him somehow(good identification, not Able tipy identification). Complex, well writen and good background, 079 could not be one of the most popular, yet he is perfect as an scp. The idea is disturbing and its done wonderfully. Also, he is the closest we get to a villain in CB, and is extraordinary good at that. This CPU, is an awesome SCP.

10/10

But not every SCP has to be disturbing in all his existence, there can be scps that are not scary in theory but still interesting a good writing. Our little reptile lover loli killing machine here its a good example of it. Much like 079, he is a good example of an scp that we want to get free, and we are sorry for her, but we know that is better this way (to an extreme). 053, the little girl, a young child who can (and will) kill you without even notice, but dont do it of evil, sadism, need or as a medium for an end, just because that is her nature and she cant do anything about it. You know is bad when a monster like 682 feel sorry for her. Maybe his only faults are the desing , wich is kind of generic, but its ok to have a normal human once in a while for me. Very good scp.

8/10

And speaking of the devil, to end the list we have the hard to destroy reptile himself, 682. I always love villains like nuraryhion from Gantz, beings that could adapt to anything and eevolve in an instant to adapt to the situation, soo 682 inmediatly become one (if not the one) of my favorites. His abilitys and the danger he represents are just amazing and well writien and is one of the most developed SCPS thanks to all the trys to kill him. His interactions with 079 and 053 are one of the best, and his fights with 173 and 096(kind of forget of him for this list, maybe in an hipotetical next?) are very interestings, not to mention all the reactions to others scps. His rol in CB also give him points, being the one that cause most of the destruction in the fundation and the principal reason why the nuclear warhead are lauched. I would watch the hell out of a series with him as a villain, thank you very much. 

9/10

Scps are wonderfull when done well, and i think that i show a lot good examples of this. It isnt my idea to hurt anyone feelings, just express myself in a little critisism and appreciation, and i really hope this help someone who write or is considering to write one. And like its obvius, this is just my personal opinion. This monsters are more than just generics creepypastas, they are something else completly and should be trated like that. I strongly recomend the series ‘’Sedition’’ made by tasstops or the ‘’Confinement’’ animated series made by Lord Bung if you want to see more of them and see for yourself what i meant, both awesome works make by awesome artists. 

Hope you all enjoyed, and wait for your criticism about my criticism

[pinksweatergettingbetter]

warning, the following has mainly snarky (and possibly furious) opinions on Spirit of Justice. Reader discretion is advised.

Okay folks. this is it. part 1 of the final chapter

here we go.

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trial day 2?? oh yeah i forgot they split this game up in the worst, uneven way possible 

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wow that cutscene was

something alright

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wow datz actually managed to hold onto the snow globe. kudos?

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what the fuck

i think i heard it wrong but Dhurke’s objection sounds like an old man 

I'm pretty sure i heard it wrong 

missed the bass

-

who was that no– oh Garananana

i guess she's gonna be the final boss instead huh

- 

im so tired i cant even snark properly 

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“is that kosher?”

i like it

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oh god

what.... what is she wearing 

i mean

fuckin

TALK about madonna-whore complex. oh yeah, time to turn super evil?? bear your midriff! show off dem tiddies! 

look, SOJ. theres only one bad bitch in ace attorney who can pull off floaty tendril hair, and its NOT ga’ran.

i cant believe i have to look at this train wreck for the rest of the trial

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“heh heh heh. its all coming back now. the feel of my blood pumping through my veins”

this is perhaps because youre actually moving now, your eminence.

-

can we just dispense with the trial and have a good old fashioned anime fight? cmon apollo, spike up that hair and grab your BFS. 

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“meep”

WHATS WITH THE MEEPING

BONNY DID THAT TOO

SOJ ITS 2016 ...ACTUALLY ITS 2028 YOU HOLES

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everyone in the court: :O what??? whats wrong with rayfa??? why is she sad???

oh i dunno maybe because her fucking Father just got brutally murdered?? maybe??

what the fuck is up with SOJ characters being dumb as a bag of bricks when it comes to other peoples’ feelings regarding death of loved ones???

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phoenix: shits fucked, thats why?? apollo: OHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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“seems like she's worse off today than she was yesterday”

hey game you'd better not be implying any shit 

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“discipline”

soj

-

alright, back after another longass break. i can do this.

( That’s oddly compassionate of him, all things considered )

I was about to defend Nahyuta because what kind of person wouldn’t try to spare a child from witnessing that kind of trauma... but then again, this is the Sadmad who purposefully tried to trigger someone into losing a trial so

(shrug emoji)

-

grana’s gone into full HORHORHOR BITCH MODE 

partially I'm totally numb because i dont have any stakes in her newfound ebilness, and partially I'm tired of this weird new trend of child abuse in the new games 

- 

“Barbed head.”

oh my god 

the first person she goes to after realizing that her caretaker is gone is fucking Phoenix 

im gonna cry 

“ive been reduced to “royal robe remover”” NO NICK YOU’VE BEEN UPGRADED TO DAD BY SOMEONE WHO’S NOT YOU

( ‘It’s like she’s grooming Mr. Wright to be Nayna’s replacement’) 

I know this game is all about confusing bullshit for heartwarming moments and vice versa but guys 

good lord

my heart

i really needed that 

-

(sigh) they really couldn’t get someone who sounded like a fucking 14 year old to do her voice?? really???

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rayfa: (looks like she's going to die and collapses)

apollo: this is not good...

gee apollo you really think so? 

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wait a fuking second 

we went through the whole dance cutscene and we’re not even going to see the pool??? does that mean the priestess has to be conscious and present for the images to be visible? ...and how does that work, anyway? 

i just realized, a medium could use a pool to see the dead, but how the hell could they project it for others to see?? does she literally open a portal to hell???

(sigh) i just regret sitting through that cutscene again

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“cabal of traitorous lawyers”

i love that

-

(Seriously Dhurke? This is no laughing matter.)

this basically sums up Dhurke’s entire personality 

...yknow, i know what they were trying to do with his character– i really do. i know he’s supposed to come off as a dashing, cavalier rebel who laughs in the face of danger. 

but they overshot endearingly irreverent and ploughed straight into fuckwaddome. if you want a character to be charming, they need softer moments too. Dhurke isn’t a bad person, but he’s kind of an asshole when you get right down to it, and nothing so far is proving otherwise. 

-

ok ive heard Dhurke’s Objection again and it doesn't sound like an old man– it just sounds about as overblown and ridiculous as Manfred von Karma’s (not to mention about as deep)

-

LET DHURKE SAY BITCH

... i guess

-

another perfect example of Dhurke being kind of a fuckwad: he keeps needling the queen and baiting her in ways that could get himself killed, which would be all fine and dandy if he were the brave resistance leader being tortured for information in the bowels of a dungeon.

...but here’s the thing.

IF YOU DIE, DHURKE, APOLLO AND PHOENIX DIE TOO. DID YOU FORGET ABOUT THE GODDAMN DC ACT? ITS NOT JUST YOUR DEAD ASS ON THE LINE HERE SO SHUT YOUR SASSY TRAP AND THINK ABOUT SOMETHING OTHER THAN YOUR *AMAZING WIT* FOR ONCE.

you’ve got 2 extra lives on the line here.

...3 if my suspicions are correct.

-

stop calling him son please you abandoned him in an orphanage and didnt contact him for 14 years.

...and if he can’t call you ‘dad’ you have no right to call him ‘son’

-

coming back to this after ghost trick has convinced me that one of ga’ran’s lackeys miiiiiight be related to Cabanela, baby

-

“Wright... I can see we are kindred spirits, you and I! Hah-ha ha ha ha ha!!”

NO

NO 

NO

NO

FUCK YOU DHURKE 

-

“It’s pretty easy to spot the difference between a soulless man and the soulless shell of a man”

ok that did get a laugh out of me, good job dhurke.

-

apollo: pls dont get us killed dhurke: mmmm ok ill try but I'm not promising anything lol

://///

-

“But remember, son, if you truly believe in me, you should be able to prove my innocence.”

do i even have to list how many reasons thats wrong and a shitty thing to say

-

“Such Insolence”

You’ve been beat out, Not So Fast

-

Ga’ran used Gust!

Apollo flinched and couldn’t move!

-

“I could behead you at any time”

she's got a point; she’s a fucking despot, there’s no reason to actually hold a trial. i mean i guess she wants to shut up the rebels but just killing them would be a lot easier and its not like she has any qualms about murder

-

“Aw shoot, ya got me.”

again, not an appropriate reaction for whats going on buddy

-

lol get fucked kjudge

-

DGFUFUS OH COOL

WE GOT GUILTY (excited cheers from the audience)

the applause and the shots of everyone with :O faces is making me feel like i just won a gameshow 

wheres my cheesy jingle 

-

also i love how Dhurke’s like “oh shit!! my assholishness has directly resulted in my son’s death!!! did NOT see that coming!!!!!!!!!”

-

again the sound mixing is drowning out the background music (sigh)

-

“your benevolence? I’d be happy to lend an ear if you’d like to talk!”

>this is it, this is why he leaves the series guys. Apollo is too good for these sinful games.

-

DAMNIT DHURKE, YOUR SHIT MOUTH IS RUBBING OFF ON YOUR SON

-

hmm

we’ve got an april may here

-

“Rayfa, I shall buy you a new servant”

so Kooraheen practices slavery..? I mean, she.... she said ‘buy’, not hire.

-

“she would have left shoeprints”

do

do you know what evaporation is your malevolence 

-

wait wait wait

that doesn't make any sense 

the only prints leading out are from Inga, but the prints inside the building are from Nayna? how did she avoid leaving prints leading inside, then?? did she just long-jump over the dirt path???

-

the guards are not fanboying, apollo, they’re toadying. there’s a difference.

-

apollo: maybe the place he was stabbed and the place he died were different 

(the game only continues after you carefully explain what dying of blood loss is three years later)

-

to be completely fair, there are actually stories of people who were unaware of being stabbed 

furthermore, when you get stabbed, you’re not going to be the most rational human being on earth. 

phoenix, don’t give sadmad that point, especially when he’s currently assaulting your protege 

now, as i was saying, Apollo’s suggestion that Inga was stabbed in the back and then ran into the temple is perfectly plausible; running to shelter from an attacker is probably the first thing you’d want to do when injured, and the tomb was a pretty safe place, i’d wager. 

tbh i really don’t know why they’re arguing about him feeling the pain as that wouldn’t really impair his movement considering he was stabbed in a place that wouldn’t affect his ability to walk???

but yeah apparently he was doped up to shit so 

-

...i highly doubt back pain medication is strong enough to negate a stab wound. on the other hand, if it is and your back pain is THAT intense, Inga, you need to see a fucking doctor pronto.

...yeah shots straight into the spine is one step away from surgery; not to be an asshole but I'm not sure Inga was doing so well anyway before he went 

-

huh. are they really gonna give us an actual choosable choice to abandon Dhurke and save our own skin? Cause that would be interesting; a lot like the old games where you could “”choose”” to defend a client or not.

to be clear here, though, i wouldn't choose “no” even as much as i dislike dhurke. we know (sigh) that he’s innocent, and even if i dont like him it’s our duty to defend his shitty ass

OH HOLY FUCK

THERES THE CHOICE

wow. y’know SOJ, i dont much like you, but you fuckin Did That. well done.

also thank you for the Justice pun it is much appreciated.

-

“And while I can’t say I’m used to it, this isn’t exactly my first rodeo”

FWHAT

>game flashes back to the Ahlbi case

DSKJFLS THIS IS LITERALLY THE “at second rodeo: this isn't my first rodeo” POST

-

YES OK WE’VE SEEN THIS CUTSCENE TWICE NOW ALREADY

WE GET IT, RAYFAS GOT COLD FEET ABOUT BEING QUEEN

MAYAS IN THE GAME 

OK

-

phoenix: allow me to mansplain how rayfa is feeling despite how fucking obvious it is. after all, we know our players have the mental and emotional capacity of goldfish!

oh hey mansplain is a legit word in the dictionary 

cool!

-

why are they building this up?? just fucking tell Rayfa to do her stupid dance again and get on with it; we already did this at the beginning of the trial 

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“Hmm... Indeed. It would be problematic.”

ohohoooohohohhhihgjhgo

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oh her nails are actually tiny pen 

thats neat 

thank goodness Kooraheeneese is an up-and-down written language– otherwise they’d have to make a whole new animation for the english game teehee

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“....................But... Horn Head needs my help”

oh my heart

-

dan she just straight up begone’d her 

-

see the one thing that falls flat here is that, during a regular trial, the prosecution saying “oh, ok, have it your way; you can try to prove your theory” holds up a little more since they... you know. don’t have absolute power.

where as, with Garananana, its more like she's just a huge posturing pushover. especially since every other minute she's saying “ok, I'm gonna kill you for REAL now.”

-

rayfa: b but if i fail you'll be killed!!! i dont get it...

apollo: i literally just finished explaining that I'm 100% ready to die for my shitty job that was like 5 minutes ago

it is sweet to see that he’s cheering her on though. good big bro 

-

I'm finding small solace in this beautiful moment of “your foreign dad and bro are here for you babe reach for the stars”

Athena’s probably flashing a double thumbs up from the gallery too

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“But... I finally know now. I know in what I can trust”

Bobby, from the afterlife: YOU’RE DOING AMAZING SWEETIE 

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Garan: What??? my tiny 14 year old daughter is going to do a thing i don’t want her to??? fuck there’s no way i can shut her up. not even with all of my large adult man guards who could easily just escort her out of the courtroom without any resistance because they’re my fucking royal guards and I'm the Queen

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oh shit she took off her own cape

im so glad i muted the game so her awful voice actress couldn’t ruin this cool moment

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and now as this long ass cutscene plays out again, i simply cannot help but wonder about the poor choir and how long they’ve been on standby 

where do they keep the choir during trials 

whats it like singing the dance of devotion song every trial 

-

oh finally here we go. alright, lets see what the magic party pool has in store for us this time 

...o ...ok then

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OH! OH SHIT 

Inga’s face blind?!

Y’know I did have a few thoughts about that when we discovered his notebook but I didn’t think they’d actually go that route... though, thinking about it now, it is pretty convenient.

...ok everyone’s freaking out. maybe they’ve never heard of face-blindness? ...or maybe its not face blindness after all

im pretty sure it is though

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i dont know why but everyone being like FUCK ITS GOD and phoenix being like “whoops shits trippy now” made me laugh pretty hard

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ok i gotta say I'm actually a little invested now, even if its just because i think face-blindness is an interesting thing to incorporate into a murder case. again, a convenient thing, but an interesting thing all the same.

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ahh fuck i keep forgetting how the stupid seance works 

welp, there goes one of my souls... (sigh)

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..apollo you dont need to show her the picture of her dead father to say “he had a cell phone��.

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the voice was coming from INSIDE THE PHONE 

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RAYFA HAS A PET FROG????

WHAT

SHOW US THE FROG SOJ

SHOW US THE FROG! SHOW US THE FROG! SHOW US THE FROG! 

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...why would Rayfa interpret the sound of the warbaa’d (something she’s familiar with) with a lion’s roar (something she’s unfamiliar with) ??

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oh i see thats why Vore Machine is an idiot 

for plot convenience 

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Datz Are’bal, a man who throws fire crackers at children.

...sounds like an are’bal guy.

bahdum-tshh

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“The joker who got a kick out of startling Ahlbi with his Dragon Snot Snaps”

...something tells me that if Datz found out about Youtube, he’d be one of those “””prank””” channels.

also WHY ARE THEY CALLED SNOT SNAPS

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

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“happy-go-lucky”

i think you mean vaguely sociopathic

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(sigh) ive finally been worn down to the point where i need a walkthrough. ive... been beaten...

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boy ahlbi’s just a font of knowledge isn't he 

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DID SHE JUST BREAK HER NAILS OFF

PLEASE SAY THOSE WERE STICK ONS

HOL SHIT

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MMMM LAY IT ON ME NICK

face blindness 

... i mean theyre not calling it that but thats what it is 

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yeah yeah channeling blah blah come on! youre in the LAND of channeling !

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shduhjahdjk

I'm picturing Inga running into his own dead body and flipping his shit 

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oh man. thats the end of Trail 2 part 1.

guess i’ll see you guys on the other side... heheh. 

[tumblunni]

Hashtag relateable protagonist yo

Gonna give some comments on Red String Of Fate as I play it! You can get the game here and it’s actually free to play. So yeah, even as I criticise parts of it, keep that in mind! Its really great for a free short lil slice of cuteness.

Oh, but the font size is weirdly small for some reason so I’m gonna be mostly doing cropped screenshots so you can see it thru tumblr auto resizing. Also the character sprites are very basic tbh, its like one pic that never changes throughout the game except eyes closed/eyes open and stuff. Like a lot of visual novels dont do much body language but the faces are very awkward here too. But yeah this isn’t a huge criticism cos I mean its free! Its impressive they managed to pull off this much in a quick project! I’ve seen way worse VNs on steam getting huge price tags, so i honestly don’t think this one should have been free, even if I have some complaints about it.

Anyway, onward!

We’re introduced to the premise of the story- that our heroine has the magic power to see red strings that show who your true love is. And by sheer coincidence during an exam she bumps into someone else who has the power! ...aaaand also she has a best friend, I guess. Seriously I feel kinda bad for Aaron, he’s not in on the secret or anything and if you take Luke’s route he’s just like comic relief the whole time. I wish there were more of the scenes where the three of them actually hang out as buddies.

I actually really liked the interesting ideas they had about how the red string could work! It’s just a shame that with the static character sprites you like.. literally never see any red strings at all except on the title screen. i wish I could have seen these cool ideas!

Oh and here’s a full screenshot so you can see the two love interests! Luke is on the left and Aaron is on the right. Luke is the mysterious other guy with the same power, Aaron is the adorable best friend who gets sidelined right away unless you pick his route. Like, I went for Luke route first cos I liked Aaron better and figured doing the best route last would be better than in DDADDS where i left the worst for last. I guess I can just hope that maybe Luke is equally sidelined on the other route? I wish neither of them were, tho, the game is best when they’re all playing off each other as the super besties team! Oh and like lol their personalities are very simple, but again it makes sense for a short free dating sim. And a LOOOOT of big paid dating sims have equally stereotypical roles, so yeah! But anyway just remember that grey guy is Books and yellow guy is Vidyagaems. Everything about them revolves around their hobbies, in that way that doesnt happen outside of basic children’s cartoons. MAN I am being too harsh on this game, lol!

Again, interesting uses of the red string thing! And it also makes Aaron instantly more intriguing than Luke. I mean, just to me ‘hey wow a thing that should be impossible according to my superpower and maybe we can find out the mystery behind it’ is more intriguing than just ‘another guy with power’. Like you at least have a frame of reference on how that plot will generally go, yknow? Also I’m intrigued cos I would have just guessed that a broken string means ‘he’s promiscuous and doesnt want to settle down’ from the context of this scene. But its curious to think that it could mean he had a soulmate once and they DIED??? And like what, does that mean your personality changes when it happens or something? Like is it not his own fault he’s flighty and has a lot of girlfriends, that just happened cos supernaturalness? I DO NOT UNDERSTAND

Okay this is kind of a weird thing. The first scene says they’re all in a philosophy class, but then their group assignment is science? And its just like.. make a presentation about LITERALLY ANYTHING YOU WANT. And for some reason they pick evolution, and think that everyone will pick evolution???? And Aaron says some very basic stuff about Darwin and then protagonist is like ‘I CANT UNDERSTAND THESE COMPLEX SCIENCE TERMS’ like.. literally the word Darwin... Basically, its a good old classic ‘school life as plot point, without showing any of the school life’ setup. We never see any other students or hear the name of the place or get much of an idea about what’s going on. And sadly we don’t even get to see their presentation even though that was a main plot point for 75% of the game! Just timeskip to the end and they’re all like Hey Do You Remember That Thing That We Did Offscreen... ANYWAY, MOVING ON!

A random moment I liked- protag and Luke talking about the stress of this superpower and exchanging tips on coping with it, that kinda seem like a depression or anxiety metaphor.

This is kinda the start of a very weird recurring plot thread for the protagonist.. Like.. she wants to find her soulmate but she REALLY wants to find her soulmate! She obsesses over it really melodramatically as if her life will have no purpose without love, and we hear about how she’s been doing weird self destructive and kinda jerkass things in the name of soulmate searching. Like she’s planned her WHOLE LIFE around it! She’s been working four jobs for years to save up to move to another country she knows nothing about and doesnt speak the language of, just because ‘my soulmate must be far away’. And she’s apparantly dumped everyone who’s ever tried to be in a relationship with her because if they dont have the string they aren’t ~really real love~ Like wow girl I am not sympathising with your perspective, this is really messed up. I hope the game actually brings up some of the problems with this and the ending isnt just finding the soulmate and everything is fine!

Aaron is cutie patoot This is like the most emotiony the sprites ever get, lol!

AARON IS CUTIE PATOOT: PART 2 also you see what I mean about them being strangely defined by their hobbies as personality

????????? That’s a ‘stupid chinese thing’?? Not just a normal thing everyone would do? Which is called maternity leave?? There’s a few weird moments of stuff about china in this VN, and then they like only say at the last minute that the protagonist is half chinese. Like you put the context an hour after the thing that required it...

Randomly I like that they did a splitscreen effect for talking on the phone.

Its conspicuously weird that they have no character portrait for this guy, he gets no dialogue, and he really does nothing in the plot. So it makes you wonder why they even mentioned him?

Also look at protag’s cool bedroom!

Also look at Luke’s cool bedroom! The background design is super good in this game!

WHO DOES THIS??? Its weird that Luke finds it cute and charming when I’d just call her rude and be super embarassed at people ruffling thru my things without asking Anyway he has A Bunch Of Rare First Edition Books and also A Library Room because He Is The Books Man But it is a nice bit of backstory that he got the rare books as a gift from his deceased grandpa. I MOURN YOU ALREADY, MYSTERY GRAMPS

YOU DID WHAT seriously.. what?? you can’t sexualize eating candy, game

AWW! Every now and again they actually do have pretty good chemistry! ‘But I just want to be friends!’ *mumble mumble* ‘we’re friends’ Grumpy shy book man does care!

Though as of this point they haven’t really had much else of chemistry, it all moves very fast and I feel like this scene maybe should have been earlier? Like seriously we go straight from ‘I just met this guy, all I know is that he hates having his superpowers and I love it’ and then they get put on a group project and then Friends Now. The game has a lot of soft timeskips that’re never really indicated, which causes a bit of confusion. There is a bit of nice continuity here tho, cos you get the choice to either keep arguing about the superpowers or drop it and try and just be friends. Either way the game follows the same conclusions, but you get a lil bonus bit of dialogue mentioning how things were super tense for a while but eventually you became friends anyway thanks to the group project.

This Scene Is Weird Apparantly one of protag’s billion jobs is at a library, and she sees Luke checking out books and makes fun of him? And like from this response I thought he was checking out lesbian porno or something but apparantly he was just checking out poetry? What the hell is wrong with a LITERATURE STUDENT checking out poetry?? When did poetry become a no men thing, was it around the time it was a male dominated field, like novels? >_> And its all kinda pointless cos she ends up being perfectly nice to him about the poetry later and even talks about how she likes poetry too, so wow hypocrite much

There is a nice dialogue choice tho, the two of them talk about a poem and the different interpretations of it, and you get to choose which you prefer as the player. Luke prefers if you agree that the satirical interpretation is better, cos apparantly he Hates Love And Such Which leads us into...

...what. Seriously this game is so weirdly melodramatic about love, even for a visual novel! the whole main conflict of the protagonist is about ‘wah what if i never fall in love, my life would have no meaning’ and also dumping everyone no matter how much you like them cos ~magical destiny is the only real one~ and now we’re like OH GOD WHAT A TRAGEDY THE ONLY REASON SOMEONE COULD WANT TO BE SINGLE IS BECAUSE A DEEP TRAUMA MADE THEM STOP BELIEVING IN LOVE like seriously dude just has a mild amount of skepticism towards overly cheesy romance novel depictions of love, thats like a minor and super common difference of opinion, not a deep plot twist

...seriously? ‘you cant read books unless you read books about love’ like yo i wouldnt even say books are remotely near the top ten most sex-obsessed mediums of all time. music and film are way worse!

Again weird comments about china. Is this really a thing that happens? High class chinese people visit chinese restaurants more often than poor white people? Like, I dunno, I just feel like uninformed white folks who undervalue the work that goes into making foreign food and reduce its reputation to takeaway-only are SLIGHTLY the majority of customers you’d get...

Again, melodrama. Not much has actually happened yet except we met the two boys, we got put in a study group together, and we chose to study with Luke instead of party with Aaron. But like interspersed is a whole bunch of Drama that feels a bit forced, with the lack of real situations causing it. like here she’s just walking through the park and wants to cry because she.... sees that straight people exist. Me too, lol. no but really she just sees that One Other Couple Exists In The World and she starts wanting to cry in the middle of the park and like.. the only thing keeping you from dating someone is your obsessive belief that they cant be your real love if they dont have this magical signal of destiny. And then she just reiterates her crazy ass plan to drop her studies and fly off on a world tour to test her string against every other human on earth and find her soulmate...

SEE THE SCENES OF THEM BEING BESTIES ARE AWESOME I’m way less invested in this love triangle and more invested in them just succeeding in their group project!

NO, I REALLY WISH I COULD HAVE seriously we dont see ANY of the group project, it just timeskips to them celebrating their victory. and this means we dont get to see many scenes of luke and aaron interacting, sadly :(

LOOK AT THEM THEY ARE SO CUTE ALL TOGETHER I LOVE AND SUPPORT THEIR FRIENDSHIP also its kinda funny that the game barely has any changes on the character sprites yet it has really great and detailed CG images. I feel like maybe if you prioritized these less it could have led to a more consistant experience?

FINALLY SOMEONE IS CALLING HER OUT, GEEZ

NOOOOOO Thats not the POINT, game! The point is that it’d be stupid and self destructive even if she succeeded! And she probably could have had a happier life if she didnt do this, even if she succeeds! AND SHE PROBABLY WILL HAVE BETTER HEALTH AND NOT BE IN DEBT AND NOT BE DEPRESSED COS SHE’S OBSESSED WITH THIS DESTINY SHIT

Just to prove that this is indeed the actual plot of the game, she really is planning to fly across the world for the sake of this shit

Also this line raises a lot of questions. Do asexual people not exist in this universe? or just people who never want to get married and only want casual sex or whatever? or does it mean they still have red strings but they look different? Also this game seems to define it pretty distinctly as only heterosexual destiny strings here, so like would gay people not have strings or would they have differently coloured strings? or is she just assuming all soulmates are the opposite sex simply because she’s straight and she didnt think about the alternative? or cos the writer didn’t? or maybe the writer did and it was just awkwardly written so it raised these questions in my head...?

^ and here’s the bit where she mentions she’s part chinese suddenly at the last moment, and also he’s part japanese too. Which made me a bit worried actually cos she mentioned asia as one of the random places she was gonna search first for her soulmate, and I thought maybe this means he’s her soulmate. But thankfully thats not the way the plot went and it actually does discuss the topic of destiny in more detail!

also that is cute

[kristanyeo492984-blog]

ftv zeba - Things You Won't Like About Ftv Sexy Models And Things You Will

For years it had been a thorn in my heart , but since few days it has been like a beutiful thing a beutiful romance , may be i have matured enough. dad Wanted me to go to the city college which was 12 hrs train journey , and there was a entrance exam for that for 5 days , dad was busy so he had booked fashion tv sex images tickets for me and mom . So thought of sharing this with you , its a beutiful thing its about my mom who had 5 days of getway from the household life and i am sure she must be relishing beutiful memories.

So dont get bored already and hit the back button this is beutiful but also very erotic i sometimes still masturbate thhinging of it. I will be elaborating this and will compile in parts because i would like to register every moment of it. Really some times i used to wonder mom could have easily married a handsome more romantic rich man. i am from india , small town , small family me mom and dad, dad was working as a bank manager , mom was a housewife married early , spent most of the time doing household work and her spare time included wathching tv. we adjusted and setteled mom liked the window seat so i gave it to her. Mom was medium height, fair with not plump not skiny, beutiful middleages figure , she had beutiful sensual face , especially her lips and nose,her bust was perfect and she had not gained extra fat , she used to wear beautifull colored sarees that went with her skin and her blouses were were in perfect shape not too low cut her navel was sligtly exposed just to show a small glips of her fair tummy , men used to give her the looks , and scan her. they settled on the seat opposite to us. at next station man about 48-50 and his daughter around 15 enterd with their luggage, he was dressed in jeans and t-shirt good looking, and looked much younger for his physic. She was 42 when this happened , i had passed matriculation exam and was 15 yrs old , and the ileana tight process of searching and securing admission for colleges had begun , india is populated country and there is cut throat competition every where. the man took a newspaper and started reading. Mom was very beutiful but conservative woman, though she used to keep her self moderately fashionable in housewives term , like cutting and shaping her hair , doing eyebrows, facials etc for functions and all, and she did like to flaunt her beauty , every woman does. Mom hesitated she was not so practical about things most of the time she spen was in house hold work , she was well educated but being a non working woman she had not developed that practicality , and she had never gone out with out dad , but there was no other option now , dad was busy he was always busy and off late spent very little time with me and mom. i had taken the side birt and layed on the pillow and started studying. the daughter took her walk man and went on the upper birth and started reading a book. so the day came and we boarded the train ,the train was almost empty since it was not the holiday season, our compartment had a older couple seated on side lower birth. he asked her where we were heading , she told him about my entrance , he laughed and said they were on the same endeavor. the daughter on the birth had gone to sleep it was only 7 0 clock. his glipse were getting obvious with a little more time, mom looked at him once and saw he staring at her , she adjusted her saree and looked out , he turned his head away immediately. he got up and waked his daughter up she came down and he told her about us , he called me , i went from the side birth and we were sitting together. i took my entrace prepartion books alison and lia started studying. hi all this little incidence happened 15 years back and i have still kept a secret untill now. If you have any inquiries about wherever and how to use fashion tv sex images, you can get in touch with us at our web-site. after a while the daughter went back to the birth and i to the side birth and started studying. Mom laughed and said its ok, she must be intelligent he lauged it off, i saw mom getting more comfortable talking to im now she started asking about his native , how often does he come to india . he introduced his daughter to me ,he asked why my dad had not come i told him about his busy scedule ,he looked at mom and said not to worry he will take care of all arrangements for us hotel bookings and droping us to the exam hall every day. Mom used to turn on talking about her college days her professors and all , this made her looose all her inhibitions and their conversation went on about the proffesors and collegues and all. The ter man said your son is studios look at ny daughter she doesn even care. After a while mom got up to take her bag from the rack above but couldnt reach it , the man immediately got up and reached and gave her the back , mom muttered a thankyou and gave a smile he smiled back saying you ftvgirls photo are welcome. it came out he was from our native place and he studied in the same college as mom . After a while i saw the man had stopped reading the newspaper and looking out the window , both mom and him were oppsosite each other on the window seats and he was having a glimpse of mom every now and then , mom was a beautiful woman and men used to stare at her and i used to get uncomfortable going out with mom for shopping and all especiall when dad was not around , and this was a first time were going alone for 5 days. there a brief silence and then mom said , i think i better sleep , other wise i will drowsy tomorrow, he said ya sure even i am about to doze. so we ate and he commented to mom that she is a wonderful cook , mom commented no , your wife must me cooking better, he said with a sad voice that his wife expired 5 yrs back , mom was taken back , it must have been difficukt for the girls , he said yes but his sister has filled in the role and taken good care of her daugld hhter , i feel sorry for mydaughter more he his daughters shoulder, we finished and i went up on the upper birth to sleep so did shridhars daughter, mom and shridhar still sat, he said he will book rooms for us in same hotel as theirs so it is comfortable to go to exams together, mom said thankyou and said its so nice we met i was worried ftv kristin babes gallery how a dumb housewife like me can manage this. Shridhar said , don t call yourself dumb, i dont know why housewifes call themseleves dump they just put so much in the lifes of their husband and children no working woman can do that, their was silence and mom said, it must have been difficult for you , he said yes its always difficult for a man with out a woman, life becomes so painfull sometimes , forget it . Dinner time arrived and mom called me , she took out what she had packed and offered them ,shridhar said not to bother they will order from the pantry, mom insisted not to eat outside and it unhealthy and that she always packs more, she said their is enough for all of us. For triffle resons i have not slept in my life , and i was so curious about things i always went after. No mom will tell her son. This particular incidence is no different had i been a normal man i wouldnt have chased what was to come and wouldnt have ever known about this , i mean 99 percent of the people dont know that their mom slept with someone else in marriage. well i couldnt sleep and waited for him to come i saw him come finally he sat down at his seat and stared at mom he stared for a while then he got up and came close to her , i bent my neck to see what he is doin and ready to shout if any thing absurd , he took the ends of her shawl adjusted it coverd her and went to sleep. I confirmed he was a good man, perhaps lonely and may be he liked mom , but as a good man he behaved knowing she is a married woman , i felt no doubt he was a good man. Mom got her shawl and went to sleep on the lower birth , he turned of the light and went to sleep on the opposite lower birth, he closed his eyes and seemed like going to sleep , i couldnt sleep because from top i caould easily see him , after a while i saw him getting up and took his bag from the rack , from the bag he took out what looked like a bottle of booze and went in to the corrider i got up and went behind him from ftv frv girl samantha a distance i saw him drinking and smoking i went back on my birth i saw mom was sleeping , her shwal had come down and her saree pallu had come down her beutiful face and her mountain of womanly breasts were showing , i couldnt wake her up and now my mind raced , shridhar will come drunk and see mom , god i couldnt sleep . he told his name was sridhar , she said she kind of recollects him as a senior. he told us he works in australia and come come specifically for his daughters admission. i climbed up on my birth and waited , i was over cautious and dirty minded all my life , part of the reason i think now the reson i havent grown up in life. I had mixed feelings never seen mom like that , getting so comfortable in no time , he was a good looking charming guy , nice shoulders and built thick trimmed mustache , mom was beutiful ,any mans desire, until she resisted, but here it was like a bolt sudden it was not much just a formal conversation but , to me, had never seen mom like that talking to a stranger so freeely.