#i forgot i do actually enjoy writing starters

[nursc]

eh, it's been a while, starter call !

[11cupids-tarot11]

Pile 1 -> 3 🩷

Short random messages regarding love for you! 💓

Pile 1- the chariot, the star and seven of coins

For starters the star card is making me think you might already have a crush on this person or might know of them, take what resonates for you.

For others, I'm getting this person might just really admire you. I'm hearing they like you so much they're willing to basically cross seas for you.

This person is strong willed meaning when it comes to you nothing else matters in the world, I think they have their eyes on a prize and are very determined when they want something which would appear to be you lol

I think this person is already planning y'all future in their head, like they've really got everything figured out even how they want to approach you 😭 (that's cute lol)

I feel like this person just really wants to say you're all in their space and they're accepting it. Like they can't wait for the day you two come together (and get married I'm hearing for some 😉😜) but they're definitely planning on making their move soon!

Other messages- 1111 might be significant, you're hot, lots of dates in nature, can't wait to kiss you, I miss you already.

Pile 2- I FORGOT TO WRITE DOWN THE NAME OF THE CARDS BUT I WILL NOT FORGET NEXT TIME MY POOKIES 🤞🏾😜🩷

Okay, for this pile I'm picking up on a dynamic that's like light and day, one person in this connection is a bit colder, closed off and I feel like someone in this connection just refuses to give up.

I'm hearing 'let your doors down' and this person might feel very hurt that the other isn't open to the same emotion intimacy the other is into.

I'm seeing it might be best to take a break, maybe the relationship has gotten to a point neither of you had meant it to or you're just really disappointed by the outcome and they're clearly not up to your standards and it's not good to settle for less.

I'm seeing maybe some of us are trying a little too hard to hang onto this connection but we can't change nor fix something that's not broken.

I am seeing for some of you that removing your energy might actually make this person miss you, and if they love you enough they'll come around and compromise so the both of you can feel fulfilled and happy in the relationship and if they don't clearly they weren't the ones for you and that's okay, because you never know when the universe is going to throw someone new your way! This could be a blessing in disguise 🥸.

Other messages- 444 could be significant, the color red, maybe a red car? I have no idea what song this is but it's got something to do with driving?idk ur person is singing it 🤣 Maybe that's significant for someone out there?

Pile 3-

So for this pile I actually heard 'its time!" I think this pile is being called to awaken to something or for some of you a special someone? 🥹

Okay this message was a little harder to read but I think both ends have been stressing out over this? And it's kind of ridiculous because you're both literally good people according to spirit that would have a very beautiful relationship and would grow like a freaking fruit tree! I think spirit is saying since neither of you will make a move they'll be forced to push both of you using the universe- like magic almost I'm hearing.

This pile was shorter, and I'm also randomly hearing someone in this connection could be short lol? I think someone here might smile a lot too, I'm seeing smiley faces!

Other messages- the song 'Magic by txt', 12, 111, the color yellow and maybe the month of May- June might be significant for some of y'all?

Have a fantastic day! 🌹 See you all again soon! Hope you enjoyed 😊

Dm for personal readings!

[ecofinisher]

Ecofinisher's crediting list for the "Ecofinisher 2.0 Sims 4 Game File"

About two months ago I think, I was thinking about wanting to do another save file again on Sims 4, but I didn’t know when exactly. During a procrastination moment I got into with fanfic writing, I took a small break and did other things, got from a work friend a couple of notebooks since she knows I love to write and I wrote down something I dreamt once wondering if it could be turned into a plot…..then as it was actually something for Sims, I thought about writing it down as a family summary. Around that week, I gathered more ideas and noticed down, what I had in mind to do. From an instruction video, I read the many variations people used in their save files and I decided to use the content only from the gallery. Content made by other Simmers. There are a few families out there, that I still created or downloaded from my starter-times in the game, because it wasn’t enough or I didn’t have any family in mind to fit the plot.

Notes:

- This save file contains objects and clothings from the following pack: Get To Work, Cats and Dogs, Werewolves, My first pet (Free/UTB free) and Holiday Celebration (Free/UTB free).

-The following worlds were used in the save file: Willow Creek, Oasis Springs, Newcrest, Magnolia Promenade, Brindelton Bay (1 new lot, the rest remains the same), Moonwood Hill. (1 new family is located there)

-The game should be free from any CC. There’s a possibility, that it could have something I have missed.

- I recently installed MasterController and some things I have fixed with it, rather than manually. *coughs* career.promote-cheats….you know, that way.

Moving on, here is the link, and it's packed inside a ZIP-file with a PDF file of all the buildings I screenshotted straight from the gallery with the original creator's name. The screenshots were too many for this single post only and it would be annoying to make more posts solely for that. The PDF file consists of 30 pages, but most of the sheets are just screenshots and the family that lives in it.

On the rest of this post, I have the crediting list for the households I downloaded from the Gallery. Go under the cut to check the screenshots out.

Link via Sims File Share

Click down here:

Households

The Alto family. The red-marked is the original one from the gallery from user gemz123. The one you'll find in my game has base-game content only. I only have the mentioned packs above and tried to stay closer to the original.

The Alvi-McIrish household. (McIrish are based on the mother-daughter duo from Ts3's Single Moms household and the Alvi are the ones with the single divorcee Dad from Sunset Valley) I had the Alvi's saved a long time ago in my gallery and I couldn't track back the right creator. I assume it was hestiah23. I only remember redesigning their clothes back then. McIrish as seen in the red square was made by gemz123.

From gemz123 I have gotten her parents. As far as I know, the user hasn't made its own version of Blair as far as I know. So my current favorite version of Blair is from this user mentioned in the image. (Oh I also took screenshots to facilitate for everyone, when looking for those versions on the gallery.

Taken from my other save file I shared back in 2023. Here you see hestiah23, the original creator and the clothing were put into owned games to prevent them from being "naked" (Oh and Judy's a scientist, lol I forgot about that)

The Goode and Bad household from Twinbrook. Ah from the last sales I bought Ambitions and played with them. (It was the only family I was familiar with 😂Wish I had got the game earlier)

Where are my former PSP gamers at? Do you all remember Annie Howell, the bar girl? I remembered her existence and had to add her in the game as well, knowing that she was a werewolf in the game and I had the pack as well! TengGong had made a great Sims 4-version of them. If you own said packs, you're definitely going to enjoy having them in your game. I had to go with what I had and follow somehow the PSP design.

I had a different plot for them, but changed at a later point. I was meant to focus on either Kaylynn or Parker, but ended up getting the idea to make Iliana "the main character" Iliana being the workaholic we know suddenly finding herself lost and needing to find her way back to reality. The Langeraks and Zelda are shared separatly, but were made by the same user. Also gemz123. The dog is from the user rnr1975 and is the house dog of Iliana and served as her therapy dog during her low days. I picked a Leonberger, which only exist in the gallery by other users as the game didn't own one in the breeds list.

The Jones-Brown family. Also from Twinbrook. They're not part of the plan, they are homeless. I thought about adding Jenni, because of the summary of the Goode and Bad household.

Yeah, I gave Mortimer parents in the game. They're also from the gallery, just one of the two happens to be dead now. - They also are dressed differently in the game. Very hideous, sadly :/ If you got the packs above, you'll get this look as DolphinSimmer13 made 😍

The Ritchi household. (In other names "The Megamind household)

They were both variations of them alone or together already. I preferred these two versions from two different users and set them together in the game. Roxanne doesn't need a lot of packs and Megamind is base game, so you wouldn't have a problem, when downloading them from the gallery.

The Sekemotos - OK, in the game they live separately. Yumi lives in a smaller house in Newcrest and Leighton is located in Oasis Springs with his toddler Sam. Everyone's favorite "legacy daddy" lives just like in the OG Sims 3 as a single Dad, just he might be interested in someone in this new town. If something is going to happen between them in the future.....it's up to you.

The Ursine household - Like girl, screw Jared Frio and everything, that happened in Sunset Valley. Take your daughter to a new place and raise her on you own. You have seen in life more men and women were doing the same with their kids and it's possible. Also from gemz123 - Simmers, seriously all his Sims 3-inspired Sims look so close to the original. This user so far has impressed me with how detailed the results were.

The Wainwrights - Owning the Get to Work park, they deserved to make an appearance somewhere in the game as well. "Eco, what idea did you even have for them? People barely know them?"

I stuck with the same plot as in Sims 3, just it progressed here 😂 I had read recently, that Oasis Springs is basically Strangetown, so....military, science freaks, weird shit.....why not?

Ok Ignore the name there, I had to remove their original kids from the save file and that was just my "emergency save name" - Just in case I save households during CAS, because you know.....freezes, crashes and mostly at the wrong moment. Luckily nothing has ever happened to me in the past weeks, but you never know. (As an avid fanfic writer I learned to press CTRL-S every 10 seconds to avoid trouble 😭)

They live separately in the game. Thornton had an affair with Jamie, while being married to Morgana. Both women figured it out and broke his heart and became friends. What happened next? Guess, who fulfilled Morgana's deepest desires? 😏

The Mysterious guys! People might look at the bio and wonder.....hmm they seem familiar, others would be.....some weird-ass looking Sims.....then you enter the game and notice one or two other Sims and realize......THOSE ARE FAMOUS SOCCER PLAYERS! I picked the ones, that went into my head first. (Of course, Messi and Ronaldo would be part of it xD Kinda obvious) They're also from different users, so I'm sharing all Sims separately and adding the RL picture of the players.

Yassine Bounou, created by Simmer Ruit43

Based on: Yassine Bounou a.k.a Bono - Morocco's goalkeeper

Erling Haaland, created by ENTjungferer

Based on: Erling Braut Håland - Norwegian Soccer Player

Kylian Mbappé, created by maudhuy

Based on: Kylian Mbappé - French Soccer player

Cristiano Ronaldo, created by maudhuy

Based on: Cristiano Ronaldo - Portuguese Soccer player

Lionel Messi, created by maudhuy

Based on Lionel Messi - An Argentinian Soccer player

Kasper Schmeichel, created by SafiyaStinker

Based on: Kasper Schmeichel - A Danish goalkeeper

[jukipptx]

omg i love renjun 🙌 could u write where u and him are enemies and one day u get hurt pls? thank u if u do!

Ok I’ve had this idea for sooooome time, but I didn’t know how to write it or where to start. Not exactly enemies but you hate him and you thought he hates you too??? You don’t exactly get hurt but you get so annoyed????🥰🎀💗 Hope you like it bby 😭😭😭😘

there was this tiny little (cute) cocky always late always annoying always staring at you guy named??? renjun was it??? brown hair and brown eyes, wearing specs, beige cargo pants, different graphic tee everytime with a long sleeve buttoned shirt on top, and a hat aaaaalways. you met him in art class. well it was more like an art therapy class??? and omg you haaaaated him so much 😭😭😭 and you thought that maybe he didn’t like you so much either because, why would he be so annoying for???

for starters, the teacher sat him next to you (of course she did); and in the start that didn’t bother you, you were actually happy to meet new people!!! but it was when he started showing up 30 minutes late to class that you started to get annoyed. he was so noisy when sitting down and arranging his stuff on the table 🙄 just hurry up and sit down!!!!

“i’m sorry, practice got long again.” that was what he always said (he blushed all cute omg) to the teacher and she always seemed to understand. practice of what??? omg just be on time for once dude!!!!

he was also super noisy during class. he was always tapping his pencil on the table, always humming to his music and grunting all the time. he kept staring at you??? every time you told him to keep it down, his eyes were looking deeeeeeep into your soul. it almost seemed like he wanted to smile or like he enjoyed this🙄🙄🙄 omg so annoying stooooop!!! why was he doing all of this????!!!!

why was he doing all of this??? girl wake up omg!!! he likes you sooooo much!!!!!

he plans his little outfits with so much care just to impress you. he keeps on wearing different types of blue buttoned shirts just because you said your favorite color was baby blue 😭😭😭 when the teacher sat him next to you, he started shaking because he was ooooh so nervous to be next to you, but acted it off by pretending to be annoyed???

he was so noisy because he wanted your attention so bad. he was so slow on purpose just so you would look at him longer. being late wasn’t on purpose though, practice actually got long every single time 💔💔💔 he hated being late because it meant less time with you 😭 and when you told him to stop being so noisy??? omg he screamed internally. he loved being scolded by you omg renjun 😭😭😭😭😭

there was one time when he accidentally smiled while being scolded by you, he forgot that he was pretending, and you scolded him again and he blushed 🥹🥹🥹

“why are you smiling? it’s not funny, renjun.” you whispered, you guys were in the middle of class and you were so annoyed because the classroom was so quiet, but he wasn’t. he blushed so hard. he even chuckled because you remembered his name (of course you would).

“i’m sorry.” he whispered as well. he wasn’t sorry. he was constantly looking for a chance to talk to you.

“you’re not.” you finally confronted him.

“i’m not.” he confessed.

eventually, as the months passed by, and little by little, he started getting to know you. he stopped being so annoying, he apologized and he got the courage to ask you questions about yourself. then he started bringing extra of everything on purpose just to share with you. Extra snacks, extra new colored pens, extra perfume samples they gave him at the store, extra flowers he found on his way to class??? extra beaded bracelets (matching😭🤢💗) he bought on accident??? extra frappuccinos??? it was so suspicious because, why on earth would they give him an extra frappuccino??? but he believed it wasn’t suspicious at all, and you let him believe because, deep deep deeeeep down (it wasn’t that deep) you liked him, but JUST A LITTLE (you were head over heels falling in love with him omg)

[faelune-home]

FFXIVWrite 2024 #2: Horizon

(A/n: Last year I did some writings focused on my second character settling into a study position with the Students in Sharlayan, and her getting to meet the Scions one on one and take her own measure of them.

At the time I didn't get the chance to properly write a piece with Estinien, so despite it being a year later, I finally have one! The prompt idea came from remembering Estinien finishing off the endw patches saying he’d just sail straight west and land wherever, and reminded me of general sailing idea of just heading for the horizon.

I meant to edit and post my Yuri focused mini series writings from last year onto Ao3, but in the end, I forgot to do that, but maybe I can do it now with this piece to cap it off now all the Scions have been met. I'll have to see once the month is done.

I do still need to think as well about how I want to integrate Yuri into Dawntrail with the Scions group...she hasn't even finished the endw patches >.>

Word count: 1063)

The final Scion Yuri had yet to meet properly, and yet it seemed in a way she already knew him. At least in passing.

His reputation preceded him - a bizarre vagabond that was known to linger around Kugane some time ago, picking up work and travelling around to the various islands dotting the Ruby Seas and the coastline of mainland Hingashi taking out bandit groups or dangerous monsters. His payment mostly taken in food and lodging, and concessions for the small dragonet in his company, any actual coin often left to the less fortunate clients.

Yuri’s time working in Kugane and building up some experience and money was brief, and she hadn’t quite crossed paths with this freelancer, but she’d certainly heard of him. It didn’t surprise her much when Fhara or the young twins shared tales of Estinien that matched up with the stories she knew.

And so, she already knew one way to break the ice between them.

She found him looking over the shipping schedules by the harbour, mumbling about how it mostly seemed to be set for Limsa Lominsa or Thavnair. A brief cough to catch his attention, to which she then held out the board of freshly grilled squid, prepped onto skewers for easy eating. He took the board, though he wore an obviously suspicious expression.

“Did someone put you up to this?” he asked, not yet moving to take one.

“I did myself. Fhara’s made it a point to talk about all her friends, and I’ve had the chance to meet them all by now other than yourself. Properly,” Yuri added at the end, well aware he’s lingered with the group but never quite pitched in unless prompted by someone else - mostly Alphinaud.

“Fair enough. So this is just a conversation starter,” he noted, finally taking up a skewer and biting into it.

“Yes. I knew from the tales in passing back in Kugane that you were fond of them.”

His eyebrow arched, curious.

“You’re from there?”

“Not quite, I’m from the mainland. However I spent some time in Kugane in the care of a shopkeeper, for general life experience building. You became something of a local celebrity with your skills and work efficiency, and your little dragon companion. He was popular with the young children.”

That earned a fond smile from the man. “He’s already back home, enjoying some time with his mother at last. I may pass on the information next time I see him, though I can’t say when that will be.” Yuri glanced back at the departure table, remembering that he’d been looking over the information when she’d arrived.

“You’re planning to leave already? Do you have somewhere in mind?”

“Somewhere new, to my eyes at least. So probably not Kugane any time soon. Mayhap the mainland, though it seems ships there are sparse other than for locals. There’s also the Southern Isles, though most of them are apparently beset by beasts.”

“I wouldn’t imagine you would worry about ornery fauna, you could more than handle it,” Yuri noted, head tilting in curiosity. He was already halfway through the skewer board’s contents, picking up the second to last piece.

“Aye, well it isn’t just about the danger, it’s about the people that may still live there, or those that used to and wouldn’t want outsiders trespassing. I’d clear it out if they asked, but finding them is a different story. Maybe it would be better just to try some other direction then.” He bit down on the squid, pulling it off whole in one swipe.

“Sharlayan doesn’t seem to have many unfamiliar destinations then, mostly common shipping partners,” Yuri said, looking over the board and seeing the same two ports listed over and over, with only a sparse few directed to Kugane, and one for Tuliyollal, though both locations were dated so far into the timetable’s future, it wouldn’t exactly do to wait in Sharlayan for the days to come if one wanted to travel as soon as possible.

“Aye. Mayhap I’ll be better going to Limsa then and seeing her offerings. With all the travelling their pirates do and all the lands they’ve seen, it's a more connected port than anywhere else in the world.”

Yuri blinked, sensing how final his statement sounded.

“You wouldn't leave right now, would you? On such sudden notice?”

“Why not?” he shrugged, “All the better to take advantage of the winds and wherever they may lead.”

Yuri gawked at the man’s casual disregard. “But what of the other Scions, your companions, would you not tell them first? Or would you just leave without them knowing?”

“If they cross my path, then aye, I’d spare a few words. But why put all the weight into a goodbye when we’ll no doubt stay in touch. If they have need of me, they can find me.” He held out the empty serving board to her, keeping the skewers in hand.

“My thanks for the meal. If you’re set on spending more time with Fhara, I’m sure we’ll meet again. That one always has a habit of getting under everyone’s feet, and she has a nose for finding her companions when they’re away from her.”

“So I’ve learned,” Yuri mumbled, “Strangeness keeps strange company.” There wasn’t any malice or frustration in her words, just a sense of quiet acceptance. Even for as brief as she’s known Fhara and her Scions, she’s already gained some measure of the group and their type.

Estinien for his part seemed to smile in agreement. “Think yourself lucky, if she deems you a friend, you know you’ll be well looked after.” Spying a ship coming into the harbour, and scanning the board once more, he nodded.

“That one’s bound for Limsa once it unloaded its cargo and passengers. May as well take it. And if you’re truly so concerned, you can let the Scions know in my stead, though I’m sure none would call ahead to send their well wishes save Alphinaud.”

These Scions had a strange bond indeed. Mostly centred around Fhara, Yuri was noticing, though they had their own curious connections with each other. And as he marched off toward the port, Yuri had to wonder where she would eventually fit.

She ignored the voice in the back of her head asking when she considered it a matter of “when” and not “if”.

[vriendenboekjes]

I was tagged by @evebabitzgf sorryyyy for being so late i forgot.... but so fun to get tagged thanks so much ^-^

Are you named after anyone? My first name was picked for its meaning but for my 2nd name i was named after my maternal grandma :)

When was the last time you cried? i have no idea. probably sometime in the past few weeks and probably thesis stress related

Do you have kids? i do not 😁

What sports do you play/have you played? i used to do ballet, jazz and contemporary dance, swim, i did kickboxing for a while but it wasn't for me + i tried a bunch of different sports. And these days i still love swimming whenever i get around to it, but i walk (almost) every day and i try to do at-home calisthenics and sometimes cardio. And i still love dancing sooo much but i don't do it in any structured way

Do you use sarcasm? not as much as i used to, im pretty genuine these days except i do tend to understate things

What’s the first thing you notice about someone? (hairstlyle and) outfit.... sorry for living in fashion world regarding first impressions. Also generally ... uhm "the vibe"

Eye color? green-ish/hazel

Scary movies or happy endings? can't they have both....

Any talents? no.

Where were you born? the hospital :D

Hobbies? Playing lute/guitar, knitting, MUSICCCC, reading (when i have time), writing (when i have the mental capacity), (ONLINE) SHOPPINGGGGG (it's a disease), watching figure skating, going for a walk is like a necessity at this point so i don't know if i can still call it a hobby

Any pets? no but my parents have a dog :) and i helped out a lot when he was still young so we have a good bond

Height? 173 something

Favourite school subject? school is too long ago so i'll say my English teacher + mentor from classes 4-6 was great he could make anything fun.

But regarding courses i think my favourite, or what left the biggest impression, might have been on dramaturgy/scenography because we got to interview a dramaturg and i was appointed group leader (we were with 13 or so) and i got to be a control freak and moderate the conversation and there i learned that i don't actually suck at that kind of stuff. and kind of enjoy the responsibility.

Dream job? i think working as a programmer for a theatre or festival would be so much fun! But i'd really love a job where i will feel useful or where it will feel like my job is actually meaningful. I want to try 50 million things except life as a freelancer sounds horrible to me and they barely let people fuck around anymore. you need a degree + experience for a starter function. sorry i thought this was a STARTER function...

tagging: @watermotif @liefdesbriefjes @hiperbaton @beautifel @homoerotisch @esceience @tunisian and anyone else that feels like it :3

[gravesung-moving]

ship (for orion <3 <3)👁️

ship with raine hours !! ( shouta + orion )

send 🚢 or ( 'SHIP' ) if you ever considered shipping our characters romantically and want me to fill out the following form for our muses. bold all that definitely applies, italicize what could potentially apply. feel free to add more if you think certain options are missing or you just want to add more.ACCEPTING.don't be shy, we out here!! ACCEPTING.

do i ship our characters together?: yes | no | not yet but maybe soon | crying about them actually

would i like to ship with you?: yes | maybe, i'm willing to try | no

type of relationship i could see: childhood or high school sweethearts | exes | engaged | married | long-term relationship | crushes | unrequited love | fling | long distance | online relationship | just dating | new relationship | toxic lovers | friends with benefits

tropes i'd enjoy writing for them: friends to lovers | enemies to lovers | exes to lovers | fake relationship / dating | forbidden love | grumpy and sunshine | star-crossed lovers | surprise pregnancy | second chance | soulmates | amnesia / mistaken identity | forced proximity | secret relationship | slow burn relationship

would i rather plot first or jump right in and see where it goes?: develop their relationship first | jump right in | something in between ( what specifically? )

what now?: let's plot something | send me shippy memes | i'll send you shippy memes | write me a random starter | i'll write you a random starter (literally feel free to send me things ANY TIME im always here for it)

anything else i want you to know: GGGHHHHHHHHHHHH FOAMING AND FROTHING AT THE MOUTHHHHHHHHH. ugh. ugh ugh ugh the way orion has carried the fucking torch for YEARS and completely forgot about it until he saw shouta again and it all came rushing back like a fucking tidal wave. the like — ok disclaimer i'm speaking fully from orion's pov here because i obvi can't speak for shou and ri can't read him for SHIT, but. ri's a serial dater, we know this. he's confident enough in himself that he doesn't have a ton of trouble hitting on people, but with shouta he. can't??? because all of that is fake???? and the real guy underneath it all is so much less confident. they're both stumbling and awkward and it's sooooooo fuckin SWEET hghg i just like them a lot ok

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

Thank you for making such a long list so quick. It brought attention to some songs I was missing out on.

Couple of notes:

- What do you make of Two of Us? I'd personally put it in the first or second tier (at my most doubtful).

- Agreed about Jealous Guy. I wish we had a tape of that Playgirl interview. I recall a different Paul quote talking about John being jealous of him and then saying "he used to say "I'm just a jealous guy"" or something like that. Which does not necessarily imply Paul thinks that that song is about him. I wonder if he did not mean to say something along those lines again and it somehow transformed into "Jealous Guy is about me."

- In My Life/If I Fell are strange ones for me. I could see IML more easily, but I, too, struggle with IIF. I would not consider IIF song to be about Paul at all, if it wasn't for that John quote where he kind of ties those two songs together. He does not explicitly imply that those two are about the same subject, but it almost reads that way. And while IML could be about, say, Alma Cogan, If I Fell was written before he met her. Much to think about. Brian seems a bit like a stretch to me tbf.

- Almost agreed about Just Like Starting Over, but the "it's time to spread our wings and fly, don't let another day go by my love". I agree those are common words, but to put them together like this... Gives me very John playing with words on purpose vibes. Otherwise, there's not a lot to that one.

Hi anon, you're welcome :)

I forgot to mention Two Of Us! Personally, I think Paul did write it intially inspired by Linda. I go back and forth on the "You and I have memories" line, if that was written with anyone specific in mind. I do think that regardless the song sort of became about John while they rehearsed it. I think it's a really interesting example of how the meaning of a song doesn't end at the writing desk. Now And Then (the Beatles version, I mean) is another very interesting example of this. I guess I'd put it in my "compelling case" tier.

I do think it's entirely possible Jealous Guy isn't directed at anyone in particular, it's more a song in which John is reflecting on his own behaviour. In that sense, it might be that John used the song to explain to Paul how his thought process tends to work and related it to their relationship. But without a further explanation from Paul regarding what John actually said and in what context, I just find it kind of a non-starter.

Re: In My Life and If I Fell: I agree. I mostly threw out that Brian idea because I think people are quick to just dismiss 95% of the people in these guys' lives. I think If I Fell could also be theoretical, more about how John generally feels in relationships (exposed and "at the mercy" of the other person) than directed at someone in particular. In My Life does appear to be directed at someone though. I don't actually think John connecting the songs is that notable – I think he mostly said they had similar chords, no? But he did describe it as personal.

Honestly, with (Just Like) Starting Over I think it could be a nod to Paul, I just don't think it's enough to feel conclusive. I don't know if I would have noticed it if I hadn't been "primed" for that lyric going into the song. At most it's conspicuous because John pointed out how people would read into the "wings" line, but y'know idk. I feel like if Another Day wasn't literally a song John had dissed I'd be more inclined to buy into this. (for example, if he referenced songs we know he enjoyed like something off Band On The Run or Coming Up)

But I also don't feel a strong need to die on the hill that it's not about Paul, really, it's just not something I would place bets on, I guess. I still like my "it's about falling in love with songwriting" reading the most 😔 (though I wouldn't claim that was intentional on John's part either)

[sillykittyco]

monthly check in to let yall know that i am ALIVE!!! and THRIVING!!!!

little ramble about how ive been under the keep reading

omg i have so much more freedom than i ever had and its absolutely AMAZING!! like for starters i am a big romance fan and now i can actually enjoy my romance games/shows without someone guilt tripping me into deleting them because that person is insecure of some pngs !!!! and now i can go to bed whenever i want and can stay up as long as i want and i dont have a strict bedtime set by my partner!!!! and i can talk to whoever i want and i dont even have anyone making fun of my comfort characters anymore :DDD getting out of a relationship is so freeing asjklhgasdjkasjdh if all relationships are like this i think id just be better off single LOL /hj

its just so nice to not constantly be micromanaged by your partner!!! and to not have to worry about being yelled at or hit for doing the Wrong thing!!!!

but breaking up isnt ALL i have to talk about askjhaskdh!!! ive been taking a bigbig break from all of social media and its helped improve my mood a WHOLE BUNCH and im vvvv happy now!!! and and and ive been working on loving myself more and having more confidence, which is coming along VERY smoothly!! im starting to focus on myself more rather than those around me and its seriously helped me feel so much better :)))

i kinda forgot what i was writing about and its been twenty minutes so i think i'll just post this!!!! happy day everyone :DDDD

[rat-rosemary]

To be frank with you, I don’t think that Dream went about announcing or creating the USMP in a good way.

For starters, Dream could have shown basic respect for Quackity and waited before announcing his SMP. He couldn’t even congratulate Quackity for the QSMP without making it about himself. Dream didn’t even wait a month before announcing the USMP, which you must admit is very similar to Quackity’s idea, which has been in the making for way longer than Dream’s has, based on how Dream doesn’t even have all 60 members of his server nor, you know, an actual quality translator (at least based upon his most recent video).

Plus, what connection does Dream have to other languages? I, for one, distinctly mentioning something about how the only language he speaks is winning, and yet now he’s all for overcoming cultural bounds and uniting people from all across the world? I acknowledge that a person’s opinions can change, but then again, there’s the matter of timing that I mentioned earlier.

Overall, I don’t believe that Dream would have been condemned this way if he had announced the USMP later. However, I do believe that he is being heavily inconsiderate of Quackity and that there is a very high possibility that he is trying to ride off of Quackity’s coattails for whatever reason. That reason could be relevancy, as with the obviously faked letter that he supposedly got from Google (obviously faked because of the multiple spelling and grammar issues), or it could be that he is trying to replicate the DSMP and its popularity again.

Regardless, even without getting into the moral qualities of Dream’s character and whether the accusations about him are true, it’s obvious that he is being rude to a certain degree (the degree of which is debatable, but the rudeness definitely not) towards Quackity and what he is trying to achieve with the QSMP.

Sorry for typing out this long essay, but I feel strongly about this topic, and whenever I feel strongly about something, my brain goes into writing mode (it’s the autism—just kidding, of course). I hope I didn’t come off too mean, I just wanted to share with you my views on why the Dream might not have the best intentions for creating the USMP.

Okay so i also talk a lot but my thoughts come a lot more fractured so you might see a ton of edits to this post

So first of all, i actually do agree that the announced of the usmp was not very good. Personally i think he should maybe have waited a bit more, or idk, but i do agree that it didn't come out the best way

The thing about connection to other languages I think that Dream is doing it both because of some of his friends (Korean in specific, Tina really want to learn korean again after she lost most of what she knew, and there are a few more youtubers Dream is friends with and/or knows that know or are korean) and because he genuinely enjoyed connecting with people from other places and languages! Idk if you saw him during the squid games and more even on spreen's heaven event but he was clearly having lots of fun and really really loving talking to people

And a thing about the Dt that most people who dont watch them dont really know, is that they're all kind of shy around new people. Dream is exited but kind of scared, Sapnap is really really shy and will stick to people he knows (you can see on his first irl stream with Karl, he looked like a spooked cat) and George will be weird with people he doesn't know but he doesn't really make a connections quickly like how Quackity for example does

You can really see how these events left a really strong impact on Dream (and his community!)

(Also, some other languages might also been chosen because of his friends, Foolish, Tubbo, Tina and [Oh fuck another person but i forgot her name] were/are working really really hard on learning Spanish, but didn't really get a chance to use it. Other ones, like Japanese, might just be a "oh! I bet there are tons of cool people there" but really i dont know the streamers, so i cant say for sure)

I can talk a bit about why portuguese tho! Most big brasilian youtubers started out as minecraft youtubers, and they're actually really big! I cant really vouch for them (they're not bad, just... like annoying bad, except that one guy, but we dont talk about Monarca) some of our youtubers were on the top of all creators on the site a few years ago (i havent really looked since then)

So it's a big untapped community that does actually love interacting with people from other countries (there's a reason that "come to Brasil" is a meme, other then the fact that no band ever comes to brasil)

I cannot comment on the google thing because i genuinely dont really know what you're talking about

But about congratulating Quackity, I think multiple cc's were congratulating Quackity and saying his project was really cool (including Dream) even before it was announced, and im pretty sure he congratulated Q after the qsmp trailers came out

But yeah, again I think it was kind of weird how the announcement of the usmp came, but i dont think it was because Dream genuinely wanted to hurt Quackity or try to overshadow him

About the quality of the translation, i actually think its kinda funny? It definitely shows that Dream (and Callahan! Who is absolutely incredible) were actually trying to create this themselves and not just copying from something else.

I also think its not meant to really be perfect? I for sure think it will be better when we see it live, but I think the usmp and the version of the translator we see in it are not meant to be the best version it can be, but more an example so people can take it and alter it and transform it. Thats why i think its free to access and edit, because it was meant to be taken and changed by the community

But hey! One of my favorite tropes is language barriers, so i might he a bit biased on the "It's okay that the translator is glitchy thing"

(I also think that language is so complex that the translator will never truly be perfect, with complicated words and frases and *regional dialects and words that dont truly have translations, like "saudade" or "cafune", i think that there will always be little misunderstanding and confusion and bugs, but we can just pause and try to explain it differently, like it always is in conversations)

[*side note, im kind of doxxing myself a little, but my dialect literally replaces the word "thing" for the word "train" and we only do that in my state. You can also always tell when someone writes something in portuguese making sure that people could translate it because we talk/text completely different, you can translate você but not ce so some things get caught up]

This is actually really nice! Its nice to share views without being aggressive and going for each other's throat. I hope is discussed everything? It's 2:31 am and im sick so i might have missed something and im glad to talk more about it if you want to

But yeah, long story short, i do agree that the delivery of the usmp was weird and kind of disjointed, but i think it came from a place of genuine love and excitement with Dream, he just hyperfoxused on it and forgot to think of some stuff. And i think it will be fun to have multiple multilingual smps and that in the ends usmp and qsmp will be different in some core ways

I hope i wasnt rude as well! If i did i genuinely didn't want to come off as agressive

[celestialmantdonna]

Welcome! I'm Mint (26, any pronouns) and here I write Mantis, mostly MCU-based but with some comic + game influences. Indie, semi-selective, mutuals only, 20+ muns only. I do not own Mantis, the Guardians of the Galaxy or any Marvel characters; they all belong to their respective creators, this is fan content. If we are mutuals don't be afraid to reach out to me to plot, suggest new verses, etc.

(I default to using a normal sized font for accessibility, but if you want me to use a small font/you use it yourself because it's not a problem for you, I will!)

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* . ───

Rules and guidelines are below the cut. Read before interacting & thank you in advance for reading them!

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* . ───

Links: muse | bio | memes

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* . ───

01. This blog will have SPOILERS! If you want to watch the GotG movies without knowing any spoilers, you might wanna avoid this blog.

02. I do not write with muns under the age of 18, or ideally 20. If I can't find your age somewhere on your blog, I will assume you're under 20 and I will not write with you. I'm sure you write really well but it's just a me thing!

03. Do not reblog my OOC posts/threads you are not involved in. Do not reblog my open starters if we are not mutuals. If you enjoy my writing, I appreciate that! But please, if you're a personal blog, don't reblog anything that is not a gifset/image/fanart. I get that not everyone reads the rules, and sometimes it's an honest mistake. But if you do so deliberately, I will block you. Sorry.

04. I am multi-verse and multi-ship. OC & crossover friendly. I am semi-selective. Mutuals only except for asks.

05. No godmodding. This one's pretty simple. Despite Mantis having the power to control others, she will only use her powers on your muse if your muse agrees or if you and I have discussed it and you are okay with it. Similarly, if your muse can also control others, let's discuss it! Let's see what they can do to Mantis! It's fun to explore their powers, but no actual godmodding.

06. Shipping is fun and we can discuss it but please: no forcing ships and no saying our characters are dating/married without telling me. On a similar note, no saying our characters have a child without discussing it prior. I consider it a form of godmodding, and chances are I'll stop writing with you. Unless I reblog memes about sending in hypothetical kids, don't do that. I'm not saying you cannot do that with your other rp partners if they're okay with that, but don't do so with me.

07. I am me and Mantis is Mantis. Please separate the two, because I separate the muns from their muses. I want to write and create with you, not help you fulfill some sort of fantasy. I understand we can all use our own emotions and life experiences to put ourselves in a specific headspace to write, but if you're living vicariously through your muse, I'm not the partner for you. Nothing against that, I have a friend who writes self-insert, reader-insert stories and one-shots and my friend is an amazing writer. Don't be discouraged, you'll find the right partner!

08. I don't care whether you use icons or not or whether you occasionally commit typos. I do ask you try to use punctuation at least a little because if not, I will read entire sentences without any sort of pause, with no inflection or sense of pacing whatsoever. I really value creativity and characterization and I myself will, probably, have a typo every once in a while, it's all good, just try to keep a bare minimum of grammar.

09. I will not pressure you to reply to threads so please don't pressure me. If I think you actually forgot to reply I might gently remind you and you can do the same with me. This is supposed to be a fun hobby, let's remember that, yeah? I can be forgetful at times. If we're writing together please don't assume I do this because I don't want to write with you. If I'm writing with you it's because I want to and you do as well.

10. No OOC drama. Please. I am here to write and have a good time. In order to interact with me, be constructive when OOC, not destructive. I know we're all human, I understand we all have bad days, it's all good, but don't be a dick. Be respectful, to me and to anyone else I may be writing with. Don't police who I can or cannot write with, because I won't do that to you. I don't want OOC drama. Give me all the drama between muses though!

Some additional info:

Duplicates are welcome.

You can send Anonymous asks, they are welcome and appreciated. They can help me develop headcanons, ideas, etc.

If we're not mutuals and I answer one of your asks, though, don't expect it to become its own thread. I want to believe no one is being direspectful on purpose when it comes to this, but I wouldn't want you to take the time to write that, since I probably won't reply. Never anything personal, I wish I had time to write with everyone, but you know, real life and all that.

I don't write sexually charged material, it's just a preference of mine since I use writing as a tool of storytelling. If I tell you a story, personally I'm not gonna describe every little thrust/moan/gasp. Though if our muses have chemistry and I'm comfortable with you as a mun I'll absolutely be open to writing something a little spicy, but mostly fade to black/pillow talk/morning after stuff. It will be tagged ns;fw. Unprompted smutty starters/asks will get you blocked. If you write that with your other rp partners I don't mind though so don't worry about that.

If we're already writing together and you want to try a different dynamic, just reach out! While I do like to build relationships (of any kind) between muses, we can absolutely have more than one verse.

If you've read this far without yawning drop a 🪐 in the ask box (Anonymously or not) and I'll write a little playlist for you with songs I think the Guardians would have on their Zune.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* . ───

[misc-obeyme]

Hello hello CC! Long time no see, 🦀🐚 here.

Just saw that you’re gonna run a short dnd campaign and wanted to crash through and wish you a nice session with the party!

I’ve really been wanting to get into Dnd but can’t really find a group to do it with. If I introduce it to my friends I’ll probably end up as the one running the campaign and I’m not too sure whether I’ll be able to do that given that I’m new, so I’ve mostly been listening to dnd podcasts during work.

It’s just fun to see someone else trying Dnd. If you don’t me asking; since you’re running the game, did you create the campaign or are you using a premade one? I can definitely see you maybe writing one if inspiration struck…

So again, have a nice session and hope you’ve been doing great during these past few months.

Oh, welcome back, 🦀🐚 anon!

Ahhhh DnD! Thank you, it was indeed a lovely session!

I will say that the thing about podcasts is that they really go heavy on the roleplaying element of DnD. I haven't listened to a ton of them, but I do feel like part of the point is to make it entertaining enough for other people to listen? And really you can kinda do whatever you want when it comes to some of this stuff. My group is super chill so I'm not sure we do the same level of like... acting lol.

Well, lemme tell you a bit about my personal experience so that some of what I'm saying makes sense!

I started playing probably... five or so years ago? Our usual group has six players, plus the DM, which is not usually me. That's a lot, but the interest levels between the party members vary. So there are about four of us who are really into it (aside from the DM) and two of us who are not as into it, but play because they like the friend group. They enjoy combat more than roleplaying and because there are so many party members, we tend to spend a lot of our sessions in combat. It's also big stretches of time between when we play because you know, adults with lives and what not.

So the rest of us were like what if we run a smaller, separate campaign just for fun so we can play a little more frequently?

And then it was like well... our DM has been DMing for years, you think he wants a break??

And someone was like yo CC you're creative, you'd be a good DM!

And I was like... yeah okay fine! LOL!

This wasn't my first time DMing, but it has been years. And then people got sick, so I ended up with a party of only two people lol. I had to fudge some numbers but they made it through the campaign.

Anyway, all of this is to say that I found it surprisingly easy to DM. I thought it was gonna be super difficult, but it really isn't that hard at all.

I used a premade campaign that I found for free online. This was because I was kinda just getting my feet wet, you know? I think I'd rather run a homebrew campaign, where I get to make everything up. But I'll probably do a few more premade modules with the full group just to get into the swing of things.

The biggest challenge is to roll with the nonsense players throw at you. For instance, this story started out with a sheep holding a Scroll of Speak with Animals because it wanted to talk to the party (it wasn't really a sheep, but a cursed wizard). Well, it runs up to the party and immediately one of my players is like, "Can I lasso it and ride it like a pony?"

And I was like... sigh. Roll an acrobatics check.

They didn't even notice the scroll before they wanted to lasso that poor sheep. And since my player was a halfling, they could actually ride it, so I was just like okay, sure why not lol.

I swear players just really enjoy coming up with the most bonkers response they can think of because of the DM's reaction lol.

Anyway, I totally get if you're nervous to DM, but I promise it's not as hard as it seems. And if you're playing with other people who are new, they tend to be more lenient and you can all learn together. Like there were a few times where I had to ask my players about rules 'cause I forgot them.

There's a starter pack that you can get that has a whole campaign and dice and like a booklet of rules and stuff. I think it has premade characters too iirc? It's pretty good for if you want to try it out with your friends without committing to buying all the books and stuff.

My group used to play in person and our DM had one of those grid white board style maps and he'd draw out every dungeon every session. We had little figures for our characters and tons of dice! I have some really pretty purpley blue sparkly dice...

But now we play on roll20.net online because I moved across the country. If you're planning on playing virtually, you can use roll20 for free. It has built in modules you can use, but you can also just upload your own maps and stuff.

ANYWAY. Wow I rambled a lot about that, huh? Sorry about that, I guess I had a lot to say about it! But I felt like it was kind of a unique situation what with the two groups and stuff.

If nothing else, you can also check local gamer stores or sometimes independent book stores. They often run DnD campaigns that anyone can join. I think there are also online campaigns you can join on roll20 and possibly other places, too! I hope you're able to find some people to play with!

[slimy-vore-bog]

So...

Guess what happened like... a few days after I made that post?

EHHHHHH- THE SCARLET VIOLET DLC EPILOGUE CAME OUT AND I GOT OBSESSED WITH A SHIP WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

So like... This is going to sound weird, but I really hecking shipped Kieran with the protag (not myself) of the games since September 14-15 when I got the DLC and played The Teal Mask

Mild spoilers, but I was pretty upset with the story because of how it made our character treat Kieran, since Kieran reminds me a lot of myself and gives me that "I need to keep him safe" feeling that people who I see myself in gives me

They force you to lie to him and side with his abusive older sister while giving you fake half assed choices of dialogue and I was genuinely going to never buy a modern pokémon game again if the story wasn't resolved

And I'm not the type of pokémon fan to say that lightly as this is the first time I've ever said it without it being driven by trying to fit in with the fandom. (I.E I might have said I wouldn't get Shield on SoaringLark back in 2018 if the starters weren't shiny huntable, but that wasn't really a dealbreaker)

So yeah, it was a big deal, but sorry this is turning a bit rambly-

Point being that I was really fond of Kieran, but hated how they handled stuff with that big of a gap between a "To Be Continued" and a resolution to the bully victim "snapping"

So. What does this have to do with my blog here?

Well, it uh... snuffed out the last of my Owl House interest writing-wise for now... Of course the characters still have a special place in my heart and all that and I'll likely come back to it at some point but... right now my inspiration is my goofy little Pokémon trainer ship

I was thinking about making this post yesterday night, so now I'm at it. Basically I'm back into writing something that I really enjoy, but... it's the wrong fandom ^^;

Really sorry about this all... I hate letting people down and I didn't realize this was going to happen like... a day later, so I'm really really sorry about all this

At the same time I really should have seen this coming in some way, because as is evident with some of my AU fics; pokémon is my core special interest, I just never expected a character like Kieran to appear in the games and actually make me want to write with canon characters that weren't the Pokémon themselves

Edit: forgot to state my reasons for the ship; basically Kieran's behavior around your character reads/looks like how someone behaves around a crush

And it's easy enough for me to imagine the main character returning the feelings, so ship

TLDR: Sorry, got new obsession right after last post and will be gone for way longer than the amounts of time I've said before. Unless I've mentioned being gone forever

I'm pretty sure I will come back at some point still

[dxy-drxxm]

SYNOPSIS: An embalmer like her shouldn't have decided to entertain the woes of the novelist, yet here she is, letting them take a photo to commemorate their recent winning match.

CW/s: Nothing to note. Implied harm, ferrylady has been treated though, embalming (I guess?), just a nice fluff starter.

NOTE: My first entry for @i23kazu's EBG and its for ferrylady. I don't exactly know her name or what she's called, but I decided "why not make one for her?" lol. I am also getting back to writing sfw again, but I doubt this will get much (I'm busy with college but I'll be fine). Anyways, enjoy as I delve into madness. (IDV AU)

The embalmer is never a welcoming sight for survivors. For them, she was an anomaly of sorts, and it was understood by the manor residents to never, ever get near her.

So why, in Nightingale's name, is this pesky novelist bothering her?

"You know, you're simply wasting your time trying to speak to me," the embalmer inquired, causing the novelist to chuckle and shake their head in response. "Oh, please. You speaking to me now is an achievement of it's own!"

"An achievement... For you?"

"Mhm. You don't speak to other survivors, miss embalmer. And yet here you are, speaking to me when you swore that you'd never think of doing such a thing."

"That is precisely because you're bothering me."

"If I was, you'd stop talking to me."

The embalmer sighed. Perhaps reasoning with the novelist is unattainable, and yet she couldn't find it in herself to simply turn them away. Maybe she didn't want to admit that, in a way, they were right.

Standing at the open exit gate, she looked over at them, examining their appearance. Despite being a novelist, their appearance made her think that they ought to have fit to be an educator.

What an irony. She'd ought to correct herself for that.

"What's up?"

"Hm?"

"You were staring at me for a while, you know," they pointed out, poking at her cheek with a cheeky grin. "Don't tell me you're enamored~"

"W— absolutely not," the embalmer hissed, making them laugh.

"Right, right... Hey, since the hunter's busy, why don't w—"

The moment was interrupted with their heart beating... Rapidly, that is. And the sound of a faint whistle of wind, their heart rate going faster when they heard the yells from the mercenary.

"Get out!" he yelled. "The hunter's here!"

Noticing the looming danger, the embalmer stood in place. However, all it took was the novelist grabbing her wrist, pulling her through the gate with them and onwards, back to the manor.

"Let's go!"

It didn't took long until they managed to come around, but to the embalmer, she swore by the gods that getting dragged for hours by someone that you (barely) tolerate is not fun.

Still, as they relaxed by the manor and being tended by Jean (the doctor, who swore she'd stop but still continues to treat both factions, she looked at them trying to reason with her and getting scolded.

...

How odd.

No one really knew the ferrylady's name. Actually, all they knew was her past occupation: ferrylady. They had ended up calling her 'Charon' because of her reluctance to it all, and she couldn't blame them.

She didn't find them trusting enough to know her identity.

However, as she sat with bandages all around her body and the novelist laughing off the doctor's worries, her face seem to lose its original annoyance.

The novelist was a daring little one, but she couldn't deny that she found them interesting. Maybe if they weren't stuck in a manor... They'd be friends. Close ones, too.

Alas, she couldn't trust them. She didn't knew what led them to such a place, anyway.

Looking down at the camera, her brows furrowed in thought.

...

"Hey, what'cha got there, miss embalmer?"

She couldn't help but scream.

"Whoops! Forgot you're easily spooked. Sorry about that."

"Warn me next time, you damned novelist!"

Despite them saying they would (while holding back bits of their giggles as they were a living sadist), the embalmer scoffed and simply shook her head in disapproval.

Once again, she is reminded of why she found them insufferable, even if she simply ignored the faint click of a photo taken of two friends bonding after one rough match.

Just as they have always been.

Right?

@.dxy-drxxm | do not republish, repost, or copy my works anywhere | 2024

[justmybookthots]

The Stolen Heir

4.5/5 stars

I am shaking as I write this. Ms Holly Black, WHO ARE YOU AND ARE YOU REAL?!?!

In any case, I finally finished this book. After putting it off for months, I made myself start it yesterday—I told myself I must once I was done with Six of Crows—then finished it today. The first time I tried reading it months ago, my brain was caught in a reading slump, and I couldn't get into it. This time, I was immersed. About a third into the book, I couldn't stop turning the pages. 

(How BEAUTIFUL is this edition, by the way? I want to get my grubby hands on it so bad)

I can't believe how much I enjoyed this book. I went in with not-high expectations because I felt nothing could best Cruel Prince, which was Holly Black's magnum opus in my opinion—and most of the reviews seemed to echo that they found this installment lukewarm—but now that I've read it, I disagree.

It was like the main gripes I had with Cruel Prince were addressed here. I always found Cardan a little too weak, a little too uninvolved in the storyline compared to Jude, but Oak wasn't like that at all. For one thing, he could fight. I was veritably agape when that was revealed. He was a beast with the sword, and unlike Cardan, he was actually bloodthirsty. He was basically Jude—excellent swordsman, excellent strategist, very manipulative—along with Cardan's strengths: charming, silver-tongued, wry.

I saw reviews complaining that Suren stood out, and Oak did not, and now I can't wrap my head around those reviews. 

If anything, Oak hogged the spotlight for the first half of the story for me, a great deal because he was an excellent combatant against their foes. Suren, despite her sharp teeth, was of little use in combat, but that's not to say I disliked her. I do like her, though I have mild gripes with some of her choices and characterisation. For starters, I don't get why she took Oak hostage at the end. I don't like it; it felt irrational and too emotionally driven. The better revenge would just be to send him home to let him stew, and sit with what he'd done. (In her defense, she definitely was emotional. I just wished there was some logic to excuse what she was doing, like trying to seize control of her court using Oak. But I don't get how keeping him hostage would help her with anything other than causing unnecessary war)

She also embodies a major trope I dislike—the Chosen One vibe. One of my criticisms of the story is how glaringly obvious the 'plot twist' was; I saw it coming the moment they introduced the heart. The "unmaking" was such a glaring hint. And the moment the hag talked about making a body out of snow and sticks and animating it somehow? Come on. 

But I didn't care. Almost everything else was lovely. Oak's cleverness really made me SCREAM, specifically when he stole the bridle and casually continued his conversation with Suren like he wasn't at all up to no good, as if he hadn't just caught her in the act. And how, without even chasing after her, he got her to walk back to him. 

Perhaps a large part of my love for this book is Oak's characterisation. However, I did enjoy the quest storyline, which I know isn't for everyone—but I was having such a blast when they entered the Court of Moths and Suren had to solve those riddles to save the prisoners, followed by Oak's duel and all those machinations surrounding that. The plot only dragged a little when they entered the Stone Forest, which I didn't care for, but once they were inside the Citadel, I was ENGROSSED. 

I did not expect the tongue-ripping, and I can't believe Holly Black had the balls to go through with it. I LOVED it. 

Also Hyacinth's reappearance made me GAPE. I totally forgot about him, and it was so satisfying seeing that piece of the jigsaw puzzle come to place. (Sorry, my thoughts are all over the place right now.)

(Edit: I also want to mention that the flashbacks to their little moments in the past were so fun to read. And that's coming from someone who generally doesn't like flashbacks in books)

Anyway, I saw someone write that the leads are just another universe's Jude and Cardan. I find that yes, Suren does come off as scheming as Jude, but it's clear she isn't as clever because there's loopholes in her control over Lady Nore. And it's true Oak does have mannerisms very similar to Carden, to the point that I had a hard time reconciling him with the little boy in the original series. But his upbringing is so different—he let himself appear like a coddled, spoiled, weak prince, but he was so much stronger and tougher than that. I love Cardan to fucking pieces and he owns my heart, but Oak was what I always thought an enhanced version of Cardan could be. (Still not sure how I feel about the goat legs, though, lmao. Maybe minus points for that.)

Of course, all this remains to be seen. Oak's characterisation can go downhill in the next book, due to be out next year (how am I supposed to wait?), and I'm in equal parts dreading and looking forward to it. Before I conclude this entry, I do want to say it's interesting to see the leads' roles reversed: Cardan—who has powerful magic—and Jude—a consummate swordswoman—compared to Suren, who has the magic, and Oak, who's excellent with the sword. 

I know a lot of people were complaining about the lack of Jude and Cardan in this book, but come on. Oak and Suren captivated me to no end. Still… I think we will almost definitely see Jude next book, when she comes to the Citadel, raging war for Oak. 

If Holly Black hadn't cemented herself as one of my favourite authors of all time before I read Stolen Heir, she has now. This was everything I had hoped for, and more. 

- 25 July 2023

[homemoviess]

What Did You Do, Sans?

♫ - What I’m currently listening to.

During yesterday's blackout at the resort, I decided to go through some of my old files on my phone, and I came across this unfinished story. It was written back on July 1st of 2020, and I wish I could give you a detailed explanation of what I planned for this one, but I genuinely do not remember. I know it technically has little to do with the current project, but I thought I’d share it with you. 

There will be no post tomorrow since I’m heading back home, and even though I absolutely loved it here on the beach, I’m definitely excited to get back to the grind of everyday life. Well, until the next adventure. 

I hope to show you my plans for scene three of chapter one on Monday—no later than Tuesday. 

While you wait, please enjoy the below. 

A call from an old friend was like a batch of lemonade from the neighborhood’s girl scout; it could be sweet, but it could also be a sour cup of water. There was a bit of surprise there, and with surprise came excitement. Sans liked to believe he was a skeleton seeking the latest thrill, but anyone who knew him knew that couldn’t be further from the truth. Despite that, Sans stretched, wiped his sleepy sockets, and answered his phone.

 He bellied a deep, “Hello?” Still unsure of what to expect. 

The voice on the other end was quiet for a long, painstakingly lengthy, minute, before letting out a shaken breath. There was thought put into the upcoming words, like this unknown individual had been reciting this speech for a long time. They prepared for it, wrote it down, and revised it a trillion times until they got it right. But now, like a child in the school play just stricken with stage fright, they froze and forgot their lines.

 Sans wasn’t an intimidating guy, or at least that was his belief, so he’d figured he’d help break the ice. He’d cut the awkward tension rather than simply hang up—this was an old friend after all. “It’s been a while. I haven’t heard from ya since we all left the Underground.” That was a good conversation starter. He hoped they would take it.

 There was more silence.

 Sans pulled the phone from his ear cavity to look the number over one last time, to make sure he did, in fact, recognize it. This all could be a dumb prank call, and in that case, a waste of his precious nap time. The digits looked familiar enough. He had a knack for remembering little intricate details, but phone numbers had always been a hit or miss. “Well, if you’re not gonna say anything I better get going—“

 “I-it has been a while. How are you?” Finally, a voice, and a voice he could identify. It was soft, warm as mother’s milk, and it was also a whisper. Perhaps she was at a library, a public bathroom, the DMV—and Stars knows that place wasn’t the loudest location in a strip mall. She had to be somewhere discrete since Sans could see no other reason to talk so low at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. 

“Good. But..uh are you alright?” He asked as he sat up on the couch. 

 The voice suddenly became self aware, clearing her throat before continuing. “Yeah! I’m fine. I was just hit with nostalgia and thought that maybe we could talk like old times?”  Her tone got gradually louder the more she spoke. There was still this underlying oscillation, like she was putting up a joyous front, like she was wearing a mask. “You can share more puns, and we can swap stories, and maybe… maybe this is a bad idea. I’m sorry to disturb you.”

 Sans quickly intervened before she could hang up. “No, no. wait! That actually sounds like a lot of fun. Tell me your address and I’ll come over.” He was tripping over himself to worm out of the wool throw to find a piece of paper to write on. The noise was making quite the commotion on the other end of the phone, he was sure. It sounded like a battlefield with the constant banging, crashing, and muffled cursing. Finally Sans was victorious as he gripped a capless pen in his palms.

 “M-my address?” The voice stuttered after a moment of quiet debating.

“This is Toriel, right?” Sans wiped the sweat from his skull with his sleeve. 

 “It is.” She whispered again.

 “If you don’t want to meet up at your house we can meet up at mine.” It then dawned on him that she might be uncomfortable alone with him. That made him frown. Looking back in his memory bank he couldn’t see why she would ever feel that way. They were good friends Underground, he’d argue best friends. Maybe. Maybe not.

 But again, Sans wasn’t an intimidating guy. There was nothing to be afraid of.

 “Or we can meet somewhere public if you’re scared I might bite,” Sans snickered to himself, intending the comment to be a joke.

Toriel didn’t laugh. “I’ll send my address. How about we meet in an hour?”

 Before Sans had a moment to respond the phone clicked. She was gone. He looked at his device with wide sockets. A second later there was a ping and a message with an address. Nothing else. No, “sorry my phone turned off”, or “I didn’t mean to suddenly hang up on you.”

 The whole conversation was strange, but maybe because their friendship left off on a strange note? One day things were normal, and the next Toriel refused to come to the Ruin doors for his daily dose of shitty jokes. He often wondered what he did to screw things up.

 Now he could find out.

Sans knocked once, twice, thrice, then waited. He actually bothered to shower and change his dingy sweater for this special occasion. With a quick armpit sniff, and a swift adjusting of his T-shirt, he stood up straight. Often his spine would default to a slouch. It was almost a full C at this point. He swore he was developing quite the hunchback.

 It took three minutes—three minutes he deliberately counted since he told himself he would leave by the fifth—before someone came to the door. There were footsteps at first, loud, barefooted steps, that stopped just short of the dark oak.

 Silence again.

 The constant silence was beginning to become unnerving. Sans instinctively backed up. Suddenly this felt like an ambush, like someone was waiting to snatch him up, and he’d never be seen again. Maybe that wasn’t Toriel on the phone? It would explain the odd behavior almost too well. He clenched his fists and prepared to shortcut out of there if need be.

 The door unlocked and slowly creaked open.

 It was dark inside the house. Sans could barely make out the window shining sunlight in a back room. At first he saw no one until a tuft of white fur peeked behind the door like a socket puppet springing from a cardboard stage. The rest of a delicate goat head followed shortly afterwards until Toriel’s whole body was revealed. She wore a strained smile, not exactly pleased to see Sans, but still welcoming him regardless. “You actually came?” She said in disbelief as if she hadn’t just invited him an hour ago. “...please come in.”

 Her gaze fell, never quite making Sans sockets. The door was extended open, and she moved her body out of the way.

 With his bony hands shoved in his pockets, he climbed the porch steps, hesitantly marched past a hanging swing set, and entered the dimly lit house.

 The door shut behind him.

 Sans blinked to allow his eyesight to adjust. The two of them simply stood near the door for a while, looking everywhere but at each other. It was awkward to say the least. “So, uh. You have a nice home.” He pointed at her pleasantly decorated, but with a touch of grandma’s house,  furniture. 

“Thank you.” Toriel gripped the front of her mom jeans. Her head remained low as she avoided Sans gaze. This felt less like a meeting between old friends, and more like a hostage situation. Did she not want to see him? 

 She was deliberately making things uncomfortable now.

 The skeleton was inches away from confronting her. He swore he’d bug her to know what her deal was and why she suddenly cut off all contact with him. He held himself back, though. Maybe something else was happening in her life and she needed a temporary positive light. Maybe he’s meant to be said light.

 There were pictures on the wall. Sans approached them and got a great big look. In each frame were fond memories of Toriel and a human child. “How’s the kid doing? Still being a little nuisance I’d imagine?” He chuckled. Still no reaction from his host. God, what a tough crowd to please.

 “They are good. I made sure we were alone today, so you don’t have to worry.” Sans didn’t know why she felt the need to be alone with him, honestly he would’ve loved to see Frisk. He didn’t word his feelings. Of course he wouldn’t since he appeared to catch a bad case of the cottonmouth. 

Toriel led Sans to the living room. There was a tray of tea on the coffee table in front of a floral sofa. She waited for Sans to take a seat before sitting on an opposite couch. “Tea?” She offered.

 “Sure.” He leaned back in the lazy boy. It was pretty huge, a little too huge. He noticed more of the family photography, as well as a pair of large oxfords at the front door. The house looked far more lived in than his own, and definitely nothing about it screamed royalty. It wasn’t until he saw the golden ring on her finger did his suspicions get confirmed. “It’s nice to see you and Asgore are together again.”

 Toriel immediately stopped pouring the tea. Her hands shook a little, spilling the hot liquid all over her paws. Sans shot up to help her clean up, but the minute he touched her, she jumped back. “We aren’t together...I’m deeply sorry. Please drink your tea.” Her smile was more painful than the burns under her ivory fur.

 Sans took the mug and returned to his seat without another word just so he could avoid causing more conflict. He sipped his tea and watched as she very slowly wiped the mess. It was amazing how long it could take a person to complete such a basic task. Not that he had a leg to stand on, being extremely lazy and all.

 Silence followed once more.

 “I just came up with a fitting pun—“

 “How are you so unbothered about being around me? It’s almost like what happened never did.” When Toriel finished with the spill she neatly folded the rag and placed it down on the tray. Her hands were still shaking, her head still hung low, and she still avoided looking at Sans.

 Sans scratched the top of his head, totally confused. He had no idea what she was referencing. What happened? Is this hidden event the reason she dropped their friendship? Of course it was, but he had no idea what he did. Maybe he told too many bad jokes? Or missed too many of their talking sessions? He wanted to just flat out ask, but judging by her demeanor, he feared he would insult her for being unaware. So he tried to play along to fish out more information.

 “You’re right. I should take it more seriously. I can’t believe I let it happen.” He responded very vaguely. He expected her to go into more detail, but instead she broke down into tears.

 “Since then, all I wanted was an apology. Please, Sans. Can I have one?” She sobbed into her palms, her large chest jiggling with each shaken inhale, sniffle, eye rub. Sans was hypnotized by it. The goat woman’s breasts were nice and plump, squishy. The faint outline of her nipples poked out daring him to pinch them.

 Sans downed his tea.

 Staring at a woman’s tits as she cried her eyes out was so inappropriate. The fuck was he thinking? 

 “I’m sorry. I won’t let it happen again, you have my word,” Sans placed his mug down to see Toriel staring at him. She looked like a shellshock animal, a deer in the headlights, aimless eyes honing in on his sockets. They stayed like this for a long moment, engaging in an eerie blinking contest, neither one of them wanted to be the first to break contact.

 It took a loud thump from the ceiling to take Sans out of the trance.

 He looked towards the stairs. It was far too dark to see anything beyond the fifth step. The house grew quiet again, white noise drowning in his skull.

 “Sorry for what? You can’t be sincere if you don’t admit your faults,” Toriel pulled his attention back on her. Now the goat was a seat closer to him. Sans’ stomach started to gurgle, which was odd since he didn’t have a stomach. His head felt hazy.

 “I’m sorry for offending—“

 “No! Just say it! Why can’t you admit what you did to me?!? Did I mean that little to you?” Toriel started a new fit of tears. She cradled herself, rocking back and forth, weeping.

 “What did I do? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sans grew nervous, terrified. He could sense the oncoming danger like the stillness before a twister. Another thump came from the upper floor, and this got Sans on his feet quicker than the speed of light. His head, his poor dome, was spinning. He was seeing doubles, triples, five different Toriels. Maybe he got up too fast? He wanted to believe he got up too fast. 

 Suddenly he was in the chair again and his friend was one seat closer. 

 “You really don’t remember? I’m not going to put the words in your mouth. Please, all I want is a proper apology.” She was now begging Sans to confess his crimes, crimes he did not commit. Crimes he wasn’t even aware of. “I can’t.. I can’t move,” Sans attempted to stand up, get out of this situation as soon as possible, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t shortcut. He couldn’t move his limbs. He was a living statue. A skeleton halfway buried in sand. 

 His facial ‘muscles’ worked, he could move his jaws, his sockets, his brow ridge, but that was about it. 

 Toriel was still crying to herself, now on the floor, continuously wiping at her eyes. “It’s temporary—“

 “Why did you drug me? I didn’t do anything.” Sans would yell if he could, but now his voice came out low and flat. The thumping upstairs got louder. It got more frequent.

 “I’m sorry...I’m just—he was so mad...I had to lie.” Toriel barely got anything out between trembling wails. Her explanation did little to answer the many raising questions in Sans’ head. The main one being who she was referring to and why he would be upset with her to the point of holding Sans hostage? Perhaps he already knew the answer to those questions. Perhaps he liked to pretend he was nothing more than an innocent party in this equation. 

 The thumping upstairs finally stopped. “I thought we were alone?” Obviously they weren’t, yet he still felt the need to point out more of her lies.

 For the millionth time that day, the house grew silent.

 Then footsteps came crashing down the stairs. Unable to move his head, Sans had to rely on Toriel’s reaction to know what was happening beyond his vision. She looked terrified as she quickly got to her feet. “Please don’t do this. I swear it wasn’t his fault.” Her panicked pleas were followed by a quiet quarrel.

 A bead of sweat ran from his forehead as he tried to make out the other voice. They were whispering something. It was far too low to make out. Sans tried desperately to move, if not move, at least form some fraction of magic. There was nothing, like some unknown force was holding back his mojo.

 Toriel returned to his line of vision. He could hear footsteps behind him, someone stopped, and then a large hand graced his skull. Sans held his breath. He didn’t know what to expect, so he expected the worst.

 Would begging for his life be too pathetic? Would it even work? If he was going to die he’d rather not do it like a punk. “If you’re gonna kill me, kill—“ He was cut off by a hard blow to the back of his head. Sans was out cold in seconds.

 The last thing he saw before the world faded to black was the crying face of Toriel.

 Sans woke up to jiggling breasts. His head laid in a warm lap, the jugs rested on top of his forehead. It was like two pillows, two heavy clouds, and he wanted so badly to grope them. A perverted grin spread across his face as he tried to enjoy this wet dream of his.

 Now to remove that top.

 As Sans tried to reach up to cup a feel, the realization he wasn’t dreaming hit him harder than whatever blunt object whacked him unconscious. He was brought back into the moment, fear-ridden adrenaline pumping through him. He felt a draft brush his bones, and figured he was stripped naked. There was no telling for sure since he couldn’t move his head. There was a blanket over him. Whether it was to keep him warm, modest, or hidden mattered little when a foreign hand joined the picture. It rested above his rib cage, fuzzy and clawed.

 “Looks like our guest is awake. Welcome back, JUDGE.” A deep voice vibrated throughout his bones. He didn’t need to see its ace to know who it was.

 Toriel lied again. Shocker.

 “Y-your Majesty, I’m innocent..I didn’t do anything—“ The hand gripped one of his rib bones. It was far too tight, aggressive, painful. Sans let out a sharp yelp, effectively cutting himself off.

 “Enough of the lies. Why don’t you accept your punishment like a good little criminal!” Asgore poked his goat head out of the blankets. He didn’t look furious as much as amused. “Touching my Toriel is strictly forbidden.” Whether Asgore thought Sans helped Toriel “cheat”, or he assumed something heinous was done to her, it all became irrelevant. Sometimes hateful revenge didn’t need a logical reason. Sometimes an assumption was enough.

Or a lie.

 Had he ever touched her? That was hard to do through stone doors. 

“Your majesty, I—“ Sans was hauled into the air by the ribs. He was left suspended in Asgore’s grip, gasping, and trying not to dust under the goat’s strength. 

“Remove your top, dear.” Asgore cooed. “He desired to play with your breasts before, so I'm sure the sight of them will excite him.”

The need to explain he was blameless was tempting for Sans, but he physically couldn’t breathe, so instead he shook his head. This wasn’t what the king thought it was, but as Sans was hovered from the couch and given a chance to see beneath the blankets, it was confirmed that he was naked. 

And so was Asgore. 

Toriel was hesitant to undress.