#i'd really love to read the whole thing someday!

[lowrezreblog]

This tumblr post by @/ thatonechillycomic might help. The issues aren't translated, but it could help you with finding the ones you're most interested in! The manga you're talking about is Pupupu Hero (and I believe the sequel series is called "Ultra Super Pupupu Hero"). I've seen a few sporadic chapters translated online, particularly on MangaDex, but I haven't seen the full thing compiled and translated to English anywhere. Do try checking out the "pupupu hero" tag, though!

Hey, anyone who reads this! Does anyone know where I can find English translations of Kirby mangas prominently featuring Magolor, particularly ones based on Return to DreamLand and one one that has Chilly as an important character? Thank you!

[luulapants]

Do prisoners actually want/enjoy those penpal programs? Because it seems like such an easy thing to do if it helps them but like with all things prison system related or possibly white savior esq feels I wonder if there's a catch

Ask me about incarceration!

YES.

Oh my god, yes, people are DESPERATE for penpals. Prisoners apply to join those programs and most have years-long waiting lists before they can get matched. These are people who are socially deprived and often feel like no one on the outside even knows they're alive. They need to talk to someone in the "real world" outside of prison.

The big catch is that it's a HUGE commitment - not easy at all. If you become a penpal, you are most likely going to become that person's primary emotional support. If they've got 7 years, you better be ready to do 7 years, keep up with it, and set boundaries for frequency. The absolute worst thing you can do is over-commit, burn yourself out, panic, and ghost them. That happens, and it's devastating.

That said, if you're willing to take that on, you could change or even save someone's life. I'll put more guidance on things to consider if you become a penpal below the cut.

One alternative that's come up in my community, which seems like it was a really low barrier to get started, are card writing events. Before holidays (even things like St. Patrick's day and 4th of July - anything Hallmark has a card for), the group will do a pop-up at a local church. They provide names of incarcerated people who have requested holiday cards, as well as donated greeting cards. They recommend that you write as much as you can - about anything. I once described the scenery on the drive I'd be taking to get home for the holidays, and I bet you anything the recipient read it ten times, because that's how much they crave contact. The nice thing about a program like this is it avoids that long-term commitment. I would love to see more of those crop up around the country.

A prison penpal will most likely, at some point, ask you for money. Financially supporting someone in prison is a lot - incarceration is disgustingly expensive - and you will have some complicated emotions about your level of comfort on the outside compared to theirs, what you're able to give, what you want to give, if you're being taken advantage of, etc. You have to set boundaries with them and yourself before you begin - decide on a number that you're willing to give, and stick to it.

You also have to set relationship boundaries, especially if you're a woman writing to a straight man. Again, these are socially deprived people. Not being allowed to interact with any women for years at a time does not cultivate appropriate behavior. They're lonely, and you will seem like the Only Woman In The World, and that tends to lead to some feelings that can be uncomfortable for the penpal.

You also have to think about your return address in terms of boundaries. Most people in prison will get out someday, and they will likely have very few connections or resources on the outside. Unless you're willing to have this person show up at your house asking for somewhere to live, you might need to go through a program that lets you use its address or get a PO box. You'll probably feel conflicted and gross about that, too, but again, supporting a whole grown person is probably more than you're looking to sign up for when you become a penpal.

[yanderedrabbles]

hey,

you've probably answered this before and I just haven't seen or read it yet. But, why do you hate pregnancies and babies so much? lol i love ur stories and u dont need to answer this, but im curious and wanted a more specified answer

seriously long rant under the line:

I'll be the first to admit it, I'm not a maternal person. I don't like kids. They're loud, they're sticky, they're overwhelming. I don't know how to talk to them without feeling idiotic and fake. I just... stay away from them as much as I can. Little cousins? Nieces and nephews? They probably know me as the relative who'll offer them some sweets and then dissappear.

Babies are especially bad. I don't really find them cute or endearing. Whenever I'm around one, I'm always terrified of messing up somehow and hurting them. Even if I'm like all the way across the room. I have such an admiration for parents but I know myself and I know I absolutely can't handle a baby.

I'm a person who gets overwhelmed and angry pretty easily. I try really hard to work on it, but that's not the sort of personality that goes well with kids. What am I, a deadbeat dad that makes people flinch with every sudden move? No thank you.

Pregnancy has always been particularly disturbing to me. Whenever I think of myself in that role, I feel this kind of visceral disgust. It feels parasitic. It feels like a leech in my body. It makes me want to claw at my stomach and get it out.

And don't take this as me hating on kids and pregnancy in other people. It's just when I apply it to myself, I can't help the way I feel. It's instinctive. And it's been this way my whole life.

I think as a society we think of marriage and kids as the default, the expected path. Whenever I tell people I'm never doing either, I'm always met with the "You'll change your mind someday!" I won't, I promise you.

I take issue with it. I feel like we should consider things a lot more before starting a family. A child is such a huge commitment, a life you'll be responsible for in every way. I feel like I see a lot of patents who might have been happier without kids.

I don't ever want to be like that. I don't ever want a kid to feel for a second that I regret them. I'd rather just not have one at all.

Anyway, some people just don't want that kind of life. I'm one of them. I've never once felt the urge or ever had the fantasy about a family, about being a mother. I have other goals for myself, another path to take.

I have the utmost respect for parents. Like I said, it's a terrifying, exhausting job. And one I'm never going to do.

[kudouusagi]

Animedia Uryuu Kyouko interview

Not skating but playing karuta!?

Q: What is the scene that you though "this is hot" the most during?

A: While they were playing Karuta! Please feel that true breath of life!

You'll be able to see all sorts of firsts!

You'll be able to see how Sakurayashiki and Nanjou interacted while they were young!

Just as the title says, you'll be able to see their morning routines!

You'll be able to see Hiromi-chan in love!

Click to read the rest of the interview

We asked Kyoko Uryu for secrets about the production of the OVA! 

--It's been just about 4 years from when the first season was aired on TV, and the OVA is going to be shown in theaters soon. How did you determine how production would go?

While we were making the first season, people would often say things like "I'd like to do this type of thing in season 2" so there was a strong desire to continue in the production team. So it was determined we'd make a season 2 very soon after we saw the reaction to season one. However, since it's an original anime without a work to base it off of, and the staff had plans to work on other projects, we figured it would take a while to make another season. We decided to produce an OVA before the second season, as we wanted to deliver something new in the meantime, and also as a gift to express our gratitude to the fans who would be waiting for a long time. That ended up taking quite a while too though......(sweat). Thank you so much for waiting......!

--Uryuu-san, please tell us your favorite part of the OVA, that's an "Omnibus story about their everyday lives"

We wanted to make something we couldn't do in the series, and we wanted to make it something that us as the staff would also want to see, so this is an episode we made from all of our ideas. I can't say much about the content yet because it would be spoilers, but I can tell you now that my personal favorite point is the theme song! Not only is it sung by Reki and Langa, the lyrics that Utsumi-san helped produce are amazing, so please listen to the full version on the OVA bonus CD!

--In the commercial currently available, we see Sakurayashiki and Nanjo in their highschool days. Was the part set in the past something you came up with after it was decided there would be an OVA?

Well, we had decided that they've been "frenemies since childhood" before this, but we started from wondering how these two would have been during their school days if they fight like children even as adults..... That's how we went about creating this story. We hope you enjoy seeing their former daily lives(?) that we aren't really able to depict in the main series.

--If there's a character that your impression of has changed, or you've found a new appeal because of the OVA, please tell us!

Kikuchi! Kikuchi is a mysterious character by nature, but I think you'll see a side of him that's completely different from the image you have of him from the TV series.

--Other than the second season that's already being made, there have been various collaborations and pilgrimage tours held for this series that's been loved for a long time. Is there anything that you personally want to see happen for SK8, Uryuu-san?

I feel like the fans of SK8 have a deep love for this series, so if I ever have the change, I'd like to have a tea party or something like that to talk with the fans about the series. I'll never forget about how enthusiastic the fans were at the talk event held during the pilgrimage tour last year (lol). Other than that, I'd like to be able to have a Canada episode someday and be able to hold a Canada pilgrimage tour...... of course before that I'd like to go to Canada with Utsumi-san for location scouting!

--Finally, please give a message to everyone waiting for the OVA to go one sale and the theater screening!

Thank you so much for waiting 4 whole years. 

The OVA is made for the fans who are overflowing with love for SK8, and I think it's packed full of rich content for them so please look forward to it!

The limited time theater screening will of course contain the OVA itself, but we also plan to deliver specially edited footage from the first season so that everyone in the theater can enjoy it together, as well as behind-the-scenes talks with the cast and director. There will be footage only shown in the theater so I hope everyone will enjoy it together before the OVA comes out. The OVA packaging will be just as elaborate, if not more than, the series packaging, so we hope you'll pick it up and watch it over and over again!

[blackkatdraws2]

[Original Characters] One of the Tower Residents (who is usually very stoic) is acting strange. Did the Missiontakers trigger something? (-or is this an unscripted scene?)

[More Info under Read More.]

These two are fan-OCs for a webnovel titled [Being an Extra Actor in an Escape Game]

Quick premise for the novel: There was an apocalypse that trapped the whole world in a game-like tower. Missiontakers need to go into a Tower Resident's Nightmares and solve them in order to progress higher up the tower [and maybe escape.] What the Missiontakers didn't know was that the Tower Residents are actually also real people just like them, but they're more limited in what they're allowed to do because the tower forces them to become Actors and pretend like they're NPCs.

The older man is called Kim Seung-Jun.

He's a Tower Resident that's trapped on the higher levels of the tower.

He's never acted out any major roles for a Nightmare and is always in the background.

Even among the other Tower Residents, he's a hard man to talk to, only voicing a curt reply that doesn't leave any openings to continue the conversation.

The other man is called Nick Fuentes

He's a semi-well known Missiontaker that wants to climb all the way up the tower to find the escape.

He's usually the helper of the group and he's good at being flexible with adapting and making quick decisions in tough situations.

Gets attached to people quickly if they're nice to him.

Basic OCs premise: Nick Fuentes sees the usually stoic Kim Seung-Jun acting unlike his character. He starts to get more curious about the older man, and their slow development but eventual close relationship made him unravel a different point of view about truth of the Tower and everyone who was trapped in it.

-------------✦

KOREAN PEOPLE, please tell me in the reblogs and comments if I got the old man's name right!! I'll change it into something more appropriate for his character and age if it sounds silly. I'm a huge fan of Asian webnovels, the things I always consume are Chinese/Korean webnovels that I find in illegally English translated websites HAHAHA. It affected the way I named my characters because Chinese/Korean names are the only thing I'm constantly being exposed to. [But I have no idea if these names are actually correct or not. Sorry!]

Oh MAN, I have not re-visited this novel in YEARS. Literally one of my biggest worldbuilding inspirations [not to mention it has all my favorite tropes in it] and I will continue loving it forever.

I found the novel by pure chance. At the time, there was only one website that translated it into English. I thought the premise was interesting and decided to give it a try, thinking it was just another one of those garbage junk food novels that I'd drop half-way, but no, it was actually really good.

I'm not gonna spoil anything about the novel itself lololol I'm only gonna be working on my OCs.

To be honest, I'm probably gonna make an original world and story for them soon. I like this idea too much, I'll make it mine someday. For now though, I will have a minor hyperfixation.

Go check the novel out, by the way!! It's great.

[nekropsii]

Hello! First of all, love your work. Wonderful takes and analysis on the alpha trolls, and also i’m a big fan of sovstuck - both the text and the awesome cool art. I love that every character gets introduced with their own unique artstyle, each oozing with character :)

I wanted to ask, - and please believe that i’m asking in good faith, - about your proship dni. I’ve been seeing discourse about ‘pro/anti ship’ for ages now, but i cannot for the life of me understand what the hell either side stands for. First i hear it’s about abusive or problematic (pedo/incest) ships in general, then it’s about the difference of portrayal/endorsement of those things, then it’s something else entirely and i can never fucking understand what the hell the issue is and why it is so heated.

By no means i’m asking you to speak for the whole discourse or even for the entire ‘side’ of it - if there’s one thing i got, it’s that no one can agree on their definition of what ‘their side’ stands for. But i would like to know what meaning you put into the terms, and what kind of ‘proship’ you would like to not interact with you; i trust that you know what you believe in and are able to put it to words in a way that makes sense and doesn’t contradict itself or common sense, as i sometimes see :”)

I.. understand that since the topic is so divisive, you may get a ton of bullshit in your ask box and notes, should you choose to answer this, both from people who disagree and those who choose to misinterpret what you say. So feel free to ignore this ask if you don’t want to deal with that. Still, i do hope i can someday gain some clarity on this topic haha.

Best wishes!! thanks for what you do :)

Hello! Thank you so much, the compliments mean a lot! They really keep me going, lol!!

First of all, congratulations on formulating the most normal ask adjacent to this topic. Since it's so god damn touchy, people have a tendency to start throwing rocks no matter what "side" they're on, and no matter if they know what the hell they're talking about or not. Frankly, some of the ruckus surrounding this circus act is embarrassing. On both ends. Second of all, while this isn't something I'm an expert in, I do know more than I'd like, so I'd be happy to give my perspective, even if it's potentially a bit limited/flawed.

Thirdly, I'm putting this under a cut, for anyone who doesn't want to read all that.

Content Warning: Discussions of Shipping Discourse, Sexual Assault, Abuse, Grooming, Incest, and Pedophilia.

Let me start this by defining what the Relevant Terms mean:

Shipping: The act of pairing two or more Characters together. Though the term is derived from "Relationship", and therefore is at its core - technically, theoretically - a Neutral Term, it - conversationally, colloquially - carries extremely heavy Romantic Connotations, with a strong implication that said Romance is found to be appealing - typically in the sense of being either Cute, or Sexy. Defining this is not me trying to condescend you - One of the key questions in this discourse is what it means to "ship" something, and whether or not the term implies the shipper is condoning the material inherent to the ship.

ProShip: Essentially means "All For All Shipping". It's the personal, discourse-based identity label equivalent to the phrase "Ship And Let Ship". There's a common misconception floating around that the "Pro" in "ProShip" stands for "Problematic", rather than simply being the positive antonym to the prefix "Anti". While I find this to be a failure of basic deductive reasoning, I can also understand how the conclusion was reached - Proshippers are most commonly associated with "Problematic Content"/"Problematic Ships", and they do tend to take pride in being "Problematic" themselves. Either way, the word "Problematic" is highly associated with them and often reclaimed by them. They also call themselves "Anti-Antis" (horribly stupid label, by the way), and "ComShip(pers)", with the "Com" being short for "Complex". To my knowledge, ComShip is a sect specifically trying to get away from the baggage that the term "ProShip" holds, and away from the very real predator problem within the ProShip Community. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

AntiShip: Essentially means "Against Certain Forms of Shipping". It actually used to be a term for people who were against specific individual ships, rather than a blanket discourse label - for example, rather than someone identifying as just an "Antishipper", they would typically label themselves as "Anti-VrisMeen", or a "VrisMeen-Anti", or whatever their focus was. An important thing to note is that Antis trend Young, and they trend Traumatized. They are typically Teenagers, and their stances are largely informed by their discomfort watching Adults Sexualize Characters who share their age or younger, and discomfort watching people Sexualize some kind of Trauma they've been through - and considering their general ages, it's not unlikely that that Trauma is either Fresh or Ongoing. This is not always the case, but it's such a large amount of the AntiShip crowd, and it's acknowledged so little, that it's worth mentioning. It's a very important piece of context to me.

The general Belief Systems of both sides, as they currently stand, are as follows:

ProShip: ==> Never Harass Anyone Over Their Ships: This is the bones of their beliefs, and where everything started. Essentially, it's rude and unnecessary to send people Harassment over a Ship they enjoy, because not only could you be doing something better with your time, but also it can be pretty difficult to tell the "How/What/Why" of someone's interest in such material. ==> All Forms of Shipping Should Be Allowed, No Matter The Content: This is the meat of their beliefs, and also where the arguing starts. It's exactly what it says on the tin - Anything Goes, including Rape, Abuse, Incest, and Pedophilia. This is why the label is so touchy - many people are extremely uncomfortable with the idea of Fandom going back to its habit of uncritically normalizing + romanticizing Rape, Abuse, Incest, and Pedophilia. Part of this is due to the fact that this uncritical normalization has led to genuine, tangible harm on people in Fandom Spaces, particularly Minors. ==> Being Problematic Is Based: The skin of their beliefs. Many people wrap up Shipping Discourse in terms that make it sound like engaging in it is Political Praxis, somehow. While your stance on Shipping Discourse can certainly be telling of your Political Beliefs, in the way that your stance on literally anything can be telling of that, calling Shipping Discourse on its own some kind of Radical Political Stance is... Deeply silly, and also keeps leading to people saying "Being into Incest/Pedophilia is Queer Nature", like, unironically. I keep seeing this happen. This part of it tends to be very... Spite-driven. ==> Fiction Is Not Reality: Basically their catchphrase - nothing that happens in fiction is real, and therefore has no tangible effect on reality.

AntiShip: ==> Please Tag Your Content Appropriately And Keep It Out Of The Reach Of Minors: The bones of their beliefs. Self Explanatory, typically followed up with "and if you can't do that, don't post/make it at all". To further illustrate this, I'd like to spark any reader's memory of the times where you couldn't Google search "Fluttershy" without being lambasted with hardcore porn. No additions of "R34", or "NSFW", just "Fluttershy". There was no SFW Filters. You just had to fucking fight for your life. Being a child on the Internet is and was extremely rough. There wasn't any Official Tag Filtering on Tumblr until... I think 2017. It was dark. ==> Abuse/Rape/Incest/Pedophilia Should Not Be Considered "Shipping": The meat of their beliefs. Essentially, these are extremely heavy, delicate topics meant to be treated with respect and tact, or not handled at all. This is not possible in Shipping Content. At least, not as we currently understand it, and will likely remain understanding in that way for years to come. They argue that Fanfiction is not ever going to be on par with Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita. Which is true. They also argue that it's impossible for most Fanfictions to treat these sensitive subjects with any respect, which is... Dubious, but also fair, considering the Sturgeon's Law of it all. ==> Ewwwww...: The skin of their beliefs. Disgust. It's a whole lot of disgust. Again, worth reiterating that the bulk of AntiShippers are quite Young and/or Traumatized, and the content they are reacting to tends to be Extreme, so a gut response of disgust is... Honestly, healthy. No 15 Year Old should be stumbling upon art of a child getting frisky with their dad and going "hell yeah, brother!". Though I wish they'd handle their disgust with more tact, I find that it's just... A fair response, given their age, what their backstory tends to be, and what content they tend to be reacting to is. ==> Fiction Affects Reality: Not necessarily their catchphrase, but definitely their counterpoint to the catchphrase of ProShippers. They do not say Fiction is real, just that it does literally have a tangible effect on reality, and point to cases where this is observable. The impact Jaws had on real life sharks is a favorite, as is The Birth of a Nation, and The Turner Diaries. And, of course, the ways that the works put out by ProShippers has tangibly affected the lives of others, especially children.

It is worth noting, I am neither of these things. I do not identify as a ProShipper, nor do I identify as an AntiShipper. I identify as a Horror Writer. I have "DNI: ProShip" in my bio because their stances make me the most uncomfortable, and I have been victimized personally by members of their crowd and the result of their beliefs.

I was Groomed by an Adult ProShipper when I was 14 Years Old. She used her ideologies as a ProShipper to excuse herself and the (sexual) content she forced me to Roleplay with her, and used it to pressure me into writing more and more extreme content. I did not want to do it even at the time - it made me uncomfortable - but she made the idea of saying "No" to her... Quite scary, and like I was the one in the wrong for being uncomfortable with it. After all, Fiction Isn't Reality, right? I am not the only person I know with this experiences. I have met and spoken to countless - and I mean countless - individuals who have had similar experiences with that crowd. The sheer distrust kids and teens tend to have towards them is learned through that crowd's propensity towards grooming them. Because the celebration and normalization of that content breeds comfortability with "the real deal", and comfortability with harboring predators.

I'm sure some ProShippers have noble intentions, and don't realize what the controversy is about. I'm sure some of them are deeply out of the loop, and still think it only means "Being Anti-Harassment". But I do not care enough to give people the chance, just... For the sake of my own sanity. You understand, I'm sure. I do not think that this rift between worlds is ever going to get closed, or that these sides are going to experience amicability, because the question is nuanced and about morality itself, and one side is full of defensive, traumatized teenagers trying to keep themselves and their friends safe from what they are perceiving as legitimate threats to their safety, and the other side is full of people who just wanna jerk it to weird porn.

I'm not personally comfortable with, like, any self-identified ProShipper being near me, just due to my own experiences. Some might try to identify me as one against my will, due to the fact that I am Anti-Harassment and a Horror Writer unafraid to touch upon every single one of the aforementioned sensitive topics, but... I am simply not one, because I don't identify that way, I don't believe in their beliefs, and they creep me out, lol.

My beliefs are that people should be able to write about whatever they want, as long as they handle things with the appropriate amount of care, and as long as they keep things tagged appropriately. I think that harassing people for shipping Stridercest in fucking 2024 is lame because you could be doing literally anything else with your time, and I think shipping Stridercest in fucking 2024 is lame because you could be doing anything else with your time. Like, come on, man, it's not even interesting. They're not even doing anything interesting with it. Where are the themes? There are no themes. It's just brothers mackin' on each other whitely. Come on.

No topic should be off limits, but you should at least give it the care and respect it deserves, and you should make it interesting. Nothing is interesting on its own. Rape is not interesting on its own. Incest is not interesting on its own. Abuse is not interesting on its own. Pedophilia is not interesting on its own. Taboo subjects are not interesting on their own. They're mundane evils that happen literally every day to regular people. In writing, they need to be paired with themes, and, hopefully, with good writing. People who have been through these things deserve not only to have their trauma represented, but handled with care, and also for it to be interesting to read. They deserve to have options. They deserve to have good literature to chew on, to help them digest and cope with their own trauma. It's difficult to do that when you feel invisible to everything but the camera lens of a Fetish Pornographer, and I know many people who are suffering with the fact that their traumas seem to only ever be represented or referenced in shitty pornography.

Sure, some people cope with their own trauma by sexualizing it. I know that's the case for some ProShippers, and their reason for being within that group. But it's certainly not everyone's method of coping, and it shouldn't be the only option... Which is why I'm advocating for safe, non-fetishized exploration of extreme themes.

I think the reason why the discourse is so unclear is because "ProShip" and "AntiShip" aren't very tangible, definite belief systems, and also the talking points are evolving and maturing over time. A few years ago, the beliefs of "Antis" definitely broadly leaned more heavily towards total rejection of those themes being present in any fiction, but their arguments seem to have matured lately into "the problem is the nature of the depiction, not the presence of depiction itself".

That's all I can think of saying right now that wouldn't just be me walking in circles. And don't worry, I can definitely take the hit. I'm not sure what here could be very arguable other than semantics, or maybe a history lesson or two.

Thank you for the ask! Hope this helps!

[tsuutarr]

I am actually so in love with all ur yandere ocs!!! putting their designs in the back of my mind for future reference :] who knows, maybe I'll draw them someday tehee :333 I am especially a sucker for yandere angels so ur doing gods work here fr (no pun intended) Anyways I am kinda curious as to how the guys would feel abt a non-binary MC considering so far you've only described them using "she/her" pronouns ^^'' no need to answer if ur not up to it. I won't think of u or the characters any less<3 I'm also curious how they would react to mc having a very close childhood friend. I mean.. Those type of friendships are very likely to lead to more after all uwu~

Tysm for liking my yandere OCs!! I'm very very pleased to hear that you enjoy them <3 I'd be flattered if you drew them!

Yandere angels are so fun b/c they're supposed to be the pinnacle of purity, but what if they get corrupted by their desires? Then they have to grapple with their morals and desires, though their desires eventually win over because they love love love you so much!

Also, I am totally okay with a gender-neutral reader! I try to write mostly gn!reader, actually, but my readers may read more feminine occasionally due my background.

As for the guys, they'd all be okay with a non-binary MC~ though, I think Jiu's story would probably work best with a female leaning MC since his whole thing is that he dresses up as a woman to chase guys away from MC. Otherwise, I can visualize any gender for any of my yanderes!

Now, what if MC had a childhood friend? Well, here's how my yanderes would react:

Jiu IS your childhood friend, so he's already chased anyone else away from being too close with you since you were both kids. He's super smart in that he lets you interact with people (and even have "friends"), but he manipulates the situation so that you're mostly spending time with him. When someone gets too close to you, though, he'll chase them away, either through anonymous blackmail, some "accident," or something else.

Finley would be so so so sad if you had a childhood friend that was super close to you. He's not really allowed to harm any human but... it's not his fault that your friend is so so so clumsy and fell into a manhole!

Tynan would just kill the guy, honestly. Nothing's stopping him from killing your childhood friend, after all. BUT, he's not stupid enough to make it obvious he did it. After all, how else will he console you over your stupid childhood friend's death?

The abandoned water god just kidnaps you so he could care less, frankly speaking. It's not like you can leave him, so why should he worry about some powerless human? Though, talk about your childhood friend too much and your friend may meet an untimely death related to water.

As for the farmer... oh, he'd hate your childhood friend. You're his sugarcube, you know? You're just so cute and defenseless, he has to protect you! So, well, whenever you try to call your childhood friend, the signals all wonky. When you want to drive to visit your friend, your tires are all punctured. And when your friend wants to visit? Oh! Well, your friend can't visit because the area's suddenly super dangerous and there's like fifty bears that might maul your friend!

So, long story short, your childhood friend isn't safe and probably never will be (except Jiu, who is your childhood friend)!

[gcmercury]

doing things you suck at is important

I'm a Gojo gagger and I come by it honestly. I love him from the depths of my soul, he is very special. Does it come from the fact that I relate to him greatly? Maybe so. I cried harder when Ch 236 was leaked than I have at the loss of my last few relationships and personal tragedies that befell me. Why is this?

It's because Gege Akutami managed to put something I had felt my whole life into words. To be able to convey that sort of private loneliness, the one that comes from someone who's been through a great deal and although they've done their best to overcome, it still follows them. It's the Gojo that held himself apart from others, because something in him just couldn't bring himself to either let them in or he just didn't know how to in the same way others do.

It's lonely being neurodivergent. I relate to the messiness of Gojo's delivery when it comes to his feelings. I may say a few grand words and desperately hope they will understand because I can't say anything else. When pushed to the edge, I too am not able to mask and have also been called cruel and cold. "The kind of person who can cut their friends off out of nowhere, so what's to say I'm not next?" I had a (now former) friend say that to me. Recently. And yeah I proved them right I guess.

I feel it all. I have so much feeling to me I've had to learn how to bottle it and use it constructively, or I'd drive myself into ruin. Like learning to harness cursed energy, to use it efficiently.

Like Gojo, maybe I am overlooking the few people that do understand me in some sense. But at the same time I can't help how I feel. I have that part to me that always knows that pang of loneliness, the kind you just know existed before you really knew what it was. There was no reason for it, but you felt it all the same.

I cried because I know the feeling of loving those around you and knowing how much they love you too, and yet knowing what you feel is beyond them. I cried because it gave me hope that when it's my time someday, I'll be surrounded by my friends and family and pets who left before me and I won't be alone, even if I feel lonely my whole life. I cried because of the deep enjoyment of living out your life in a manner that is befitting of who you are despite every sorrow along the way.

Gojo inspired me in a way that woke me up inside during the summer of 2023. I started doing things again I had been subconsciously telling myself I wasn't capable of anymore and proving those thoughts wrong. I felt powerful and motivated and passionate, to be the most of myself.

His death absolutely crushed me. I still can't think about it or read Ch 236 without crying. Hell, I can barely bring myself to re-read parts of Gojo vs Sukuna without getting ridiculously emotional knowing how it ends (And I have this great love for Sukuna too).

Gojo is someone that has millions of admirers and fans. Sometimes I want to curse Gege for writing him so meta. For me, nothing hurts worse than someone loving you for their own fantasy of who you are. They project their fantasies about who they think you are and how you should act onto you, and then get extremely upset when you refuse to comply.

Which finally brings me to the point of this post. I love all of Gojo, and especially his rough edges that make him so real. It's why all of the JJK characters feel so real, because Gege wrote them as if they were, with the mistakes and messy feelings that come with being a real person.

I love that Gojo isn't this perfect mentor/teacher figure. He's late all the time. He's not prepared for class. He's too nonchalant. He's a natural genius and can't teach for shit. He still throws the important details to others. He's made some questionable decisions.

He doesn't have Geto there anymore to bounce things off of, to tell him maybe he shouldn't Hollow Purple Hanami, because they can't tell if that Special Grade curse was exorcised or not LMFAO. So Gojo has to make his own choices, and he is who he is. He makes choices based on that, and really, he does his best. One of my absolute favorite moments in JJK is this beautiful quote by Choso:

Gojo's at the top, and people are looking to him. In that way, he doesn't exactly have someone to ask if he's doing the right things or not. He had to make his choices and live with them, and so he kept making mistakes. He even made some of the same ones multiple times (which is certainly humbling irl).

He sought Megumi out for his talent, to hopefully be his first 'Strong And Intelligent Ally' -- a five, maybe six year old kid. That's not something most people would do, but maybe it speaks to the great respect Gojo has for youth/young people to place his future hopes there. It's evident enough that Gojo tried his best to teach Megumi about jujutsu, while trying to let him still be a kid. Megumi did continue to live with Tsumiki, he attended a normal elementary and middle school. Gojo would even pop in to bug him and take him out for some non-jujutsu related fun:

(The translations of the LNs vary, the printed version says "... Fushiguro was ready for a long haul, similar to one of those Sunday mornings when Gojo would say, 'Megumi, shall we go to Parque España?'")

However, Gojo also had this idea that maybe Megumi would be on his level someday, and then maybe he could understand him. He knows the potential that Megumi holds, and he tried to foster it, and with that, placed expectations on Megumi, who is a very different person than Gojo. Gojo shares bits of his own personal philosophies with him because he recognizes Megumi's talents. There's good intentions behind it -- to never throw one's life away, and the mindset with which you do things matters a great deal.

But for Megumi, who's already struggling with the weight of all the baggage he never asked for and was born with, it's a lot. He does heed Gojo's (and Sukuna's) advice and we see the progress he's able to make mentally and physically, only for him to revert in Shibuya when he summons Mahoraga.

Gojo may have put too much on Megumi, some consciously and some unconsciously. Gojo can only operate in the manner that he knows, and as someone who is a product of his own unfortunate circumstances, he can only project his own experiences. He was an imperfect benefactor/mentor/parental figure of sorts to Megumi, however you read their relationship.

During his time in the Prison Realm, Gojo was forced to really take a look at himself as well as accept certain things. I think it's subtly stated, but supported by his and Yuji's final conversation, that he recognizes the pressure he put on Megumi to rise to his full potential, baked into this beautiful sentiment:

His students don't have to be like him to be strong. He recognizes that there are other great strengths that surpass his own, these things he couldn't do that these brilliant young people can. He's accepted that someone doesn't have to live up to their full potential to have that sort of strength.

He knows that Megumi is just Megumi. And that there's nothing wrong with that. He says as much with the note he left him about killing Toji. That everything is alright between them. As long as Megumi has the desire to live, that's all that really matters. And that he isn't alone (That was the most important thing, that his students weren't alone if something happened to him. Even if in the end he wasn't able to reform the system, he wanted those kids to have someone).

I kinda went on a mini tangent of sorts there, but the point is that Gojo made a lot of mistakes, just like anyone else. He misread Toji's strategy. He wasn't able to save Geto from defecting. He didn't cremate Geto's body and the Shibuya Incident happened. He got rid of all cursed tools that could forcibly dispel his Cursed Technique. He said something racist to Miguel. He misread Sukuna's strategy.

He knew what it was like to lose. He knew the feeling of failure. He carried a lot of unspoken guilt and that twinge of regret with him. He explains in Ch 236 how he stopped feeling like a person, yet he never cast these feelings out. He was much more human than he felt like or realized.

Gojo may have struggled as a teacher, but he came through for his students in the ways it really mattered. He sucked at trying to explain things, but it didn't matter because his heart was in the right place. Because he had a real passion and a deep, unrelenting drive for what he was trying to do. That is so inspiring.

I love that he did his best to protect them, but knew that they would face heartbreak, pain, tragedy one day, and they would need the right tools to be able to handle it. You can't remove sadness, suffering, anger, hatred from the world. There will always be those with ill intentions. To not let those things kill your heart (like what happened with Geto), that's what he wished for his students.

Yuji didn't lay his grandfather to rest alone. He put Yuji's room right next to Megumi's. Gave Megumi the better seat outside. Put in a personal request for Yuji's uniform because he thought he was fond of hoodies. Gave kids who are outcasted or ostracized a place to belong and develop confidence, a reason to live. Organized the baseball game for the final day of the Goodwill Event. Wanted to give his absolute best because his students were watching and he cares what they think. Tracked down Nobara's mom in the case that she would maybe want to see her. Saw Ijichi's talents and pushed him in that direction even if he was an asshole about it. Broke the cycle by giving Megumi the choice for a different path than the one he himself had as a clan kid.

When he says he loves everyone, he meant it.

Gojo could have lived a life full of nothing but things he absolutely excelled at. Instead, he challenged himself doing things he knew he wasn't well suited for because they were important.

If you're really passionate about something, who cares if you suck?

If your hearts really in it, isn't it worth it to struggle?

We learn about ourselves when we purposefully set out to do things we know are difficult for us. It might feel good to do the things we know we can nail, but it doesn't keep us sharp.

Don't lose the feeling of what it's like to fail. Keep failing over and over. Keep making mistakes, even the same ones. It takes courage to fail and even more to laugh at ourselves and carry on when we do. That is its own, supreme strength too.

I am so horrible at a great many things. But I'm gonna do the things I love, even if I am never good at them. I don't think I'll ever be able to stop saying "like" and "um" and "you know" a million times when I'm trying to speak, but that doesn't matter. I'm gonna say it anyway.

I love people who make mistakes too because it keeps us all human. And I love Gojo for the same reason.

[gladiatorcunt]

i'd really like to know if he'd have any types of kinks or a type?!!

like from what I've read from you, maybe it's just my impression, but does he find chubby people more attractive? (self-insert hihi)

or just kinks he'd have; like, modern!coryo screams corruption kink (maybe even a virgin!reader 👀), and things like degradation/praise, as well as a pretty big dom situation 👀

anyways, love your stuff!

I can't help coming back to your modern! coryo au literally everyday, I'm in love 🫡🫠

CW: implied-ish plus sized reader but i use “chubbier” so it’s a bit ambiguous i guess but that’s how i picture them, don’t like don’t read

First of all, thank you so much for loving the au, it's kind of getting demotivating a bit to see the fandom slow down but I'll ALWAYS have modern! coryo brain rot. So, I guess someday I'll be shouting into the void lmao.

I do think that when it comes to preferences, he does prefer chubbier people. He's one of those guys that likes being able to just really grab and slap anything and everything because you've got more than enough meat on your bones. Also, idk how to quite explain it, but I think he enjoys what he believes is a more realistic (?) body, like he'd deadass get so offended if you thought you had to shave or cover up stretch marks. He comes from a very superficial world where the beauty standards are impossible to achieve (edit: i’m NOT talking about being skinny being impossible, i’m talking about general beauty standards and having an unrealistically proportioned body like the ones in media, i’m aware that skinny people exist) . It's like how for a while, Aphrodite and other similar goddesses were depicted in media as very skinny but when you look back at how they were actually worshiped, there are statues and carvings and etc. with belly rolls and all kinds of versions of bigger bodies. That's what reader's body reminds him of, gets him feel closer to God and all that.

I'll get to some actual kinks in a second, but I do think he likes more of a reluctant person. He's someone that is built for the chase and that really revels in the wooing process, he'd never been in love before you, so the rush of intense feelings kicks his adrenaline into overdrive. It's a sort of predator/prey thing without being a full-blown kink, Coryo stalks and he circles around you until you're given such a small window of escape that you already missed your chance by the time he decides that he's done waiting around. You have the whole cutesy 'will they? won't they?' thing going for a bit until you just don't anymore.

In my head, modern!coryo's reader is a virgin for that exact purpose lol like he does have a fuck boy past that's typical for his place in society, so I just love the idea of sex suddenly becoming so "special" to him now that he's possessed with the need to mold your experience around him so you could never be satisfied by anyone else. I think he'd want to keep some of that shyness and insecurity no matter how much experience he gives you, so he can reassure you and praise you and tell you to suck on his fingers so the stretch of his cock won't be all you can think about.

He does favor praise over degradation but when he does degrade it's more... positive (???) in his eyes, calling you dumb because he wants you know you don't have to be smart, saying you're his slutty whore because he wants you to feel comfortable enough being as nasty as possible with him, etc. No matter what name he calls you, he's adding 'my' in front of it. The words will be the same, but his tone will change based on if you're driving him crazy (basically if he gets jealous for no reason again)

I also think that's he way more of a Dom type, he'll never go into extreme type stuff and he's more of a gentle Dom depending on the situation that led up to you fucking or making love. My modern!coryo is never going to let you have more control than letting you ride him (and you always end up getting tired, so he has to take over, which he is more than happy to do!). His control issues are severe like they are in canon, he's exhausted trying to hold himself back from just losing it on everybody. So, having a stress toy of an s/o that he can micromanage and love without limits does wonders for his mental health.

He's obviously obsessed with spanking/LIGHT impact play. The only bruises you'll get will be from him squeezing you too hard or littering your body with hickies, he'd bite you to pieces too but he likes to think that he has some sense of decorum.

He could get behind silk bondage, whether it's patterns on your body or spreading you out on the bed with your ankles and wrists tied to the bed frame. But he wouldn't do it because he wants to keep you from touching, he just wants to love you properly without you hurting yourself because you got shy and squirmed all over the place.

© talonplague 2024. please reblog and interact if you enjoyed!!

[truuskn]

As someone whose first interaction with Prowl was in the G1 cartoons, you absolutely get it. There needs to be more of Prowl written like that and not always delegated to being a prick.

first of all, i absolutely agree. secondly, actually, the situation with how the fandom sees prowl is very curious. and kinda unique? i may be wrong, but it seems to me as if his idw version has affected his character much more than other idw versions affected people's views on other characters. i'll explain that in a moment but let's start from afar :D

i think the version of prowl you meet for the first time can really make a big difference in how you see his character in the long run. i first met prowl through idw and it played tricks on me. you know, i actually like idw prowl, but i have 2 problems with him:

a) he's a poorly written character. the idea is good, i really think so, but the writers didn't do a good job. he has a lot of interesting moments, but if you look at him in the perspective of the whole story... nope. bad job. i'm not going to talk on this topic, i've seen discussions about this on tumblr more than once, so some wise people have already said it all for me a long time ago :D

b) he's... technically the only nasty, manipulative jerk prowl among his other variations? but his popularity makes it seem like all prowls have always been like that. and when i first started getting to know this franchise i thought so too... i thought he was like that everywhere and all the time

when i first started reading tf comics i only did it with knowledge of tfp, rid-15 and rescue bots and i immediately jumped right into mtmte. i didn't watch g1 or any other shows. i didn't understand who was who or what was going on. and i automatically started hating prowl, because, well, everybody hated him?? even comics characters?? i thought it was the right thing to do. i didn't know anything about him, but because of his image in the comics and fandom i just accepted that he was a prick, a bad guy, a bastard and hated him. and i didn't want to get to know him any further

so when i finally started watching g1 and especially reading marvel comics i was so surprised... what the?? who's that?? why is prowl like this?? and i didn't understand what was going on at all again. yeah, it took me some time to realise that in this fandom in different continuations sometimes the only similarity from the same character may be the name alone (tfa prowl, tfa elita, tfp arcee, yk)

so it was marvel comics that made me love prowl. this is my favorite version of him. i'll write more about him someday but in short i'm just in love with how loyal, faithful, hopeful and kind he is here, how he fights despair, how continues to move forward no matter what, how hardships bend but don't break him... ugh. so many good stuff with him. especially the exodus arc (i don't remember what it's officially called but it's the one with the op death, leader grimlock and withering cybertron). anyway, perfect prowl in my mind. without him i'd probably just forget about prowl and focus on other characters. so i really miss him being like this. and even tho rn i appreciate and love any version of him, i think he's interesting both as a calm, cold and collected person and as a ninja bot and as an asshole, etc, etc, but still. it took me a while to get into it and i don't think i was the only one. it's sad that idw image is hurting this character and his legacy. again, i still like this version of him, but i don't like this situation

so. i wish people would stop automatically attributing the same characterisation to him everywhere. for some reason i get the impression that prowl is the only one this happens to? megatron, for example, can be a gratuitously bad guy, a tragic villain, a redeemed hero (which i'll be honest i like in tfe but hate in idw) - and everyone is used to it. no one equates him to one characteristic, knowing that it can easily change, he's accepted differently. but for some reason it doesn't always work with prowl... anyway, i really hope we see more variety with prowl in the future. preferably in the direction of g1. i really like tfe and idw2 takes on him! and i'm very interested to see what he'll be like in skybound (well, if he ever appears there, haha)

[hellspawnmotel]

answering more misc asks! below. some of these are weeks old lmao

yes, I saw! tumblr sent me an automated notification about it actually. it's very cool, I've never had my art featured up front on a big website like this before and I was pretty happy about it. the downside is, it's put a target on my back for spambots. not that terrible, but annoying.

I know the first part of this is a joke in regards to the person who sent me nine individual asks with slightly different wording that all started with "so I know you don't like predictions" but I don't know whether the second part is a weird joke the fandom is doing that I missed or just something You came up with and either way I'm afraid to ask for more details on what the hell that means

haha, I wouldn't say I ever left. I just draw what I want or what I find interesting or exciting from day to day and sometimes that's deltarune, but sometimes it isnt. I have an infinite roulette of stuff that's fun to draw spinning in my brain forever.

on dess, I unfortunately can't say I have many concrete ideas. I mostly go by the same popular interpretations as the rest of the fandom- if it ends up being wrong, at least we're all wrong together! and umm, I guess I'd say that I just hope we get to meet her and she gets to do things. I've been reading so much manga from the 70s lately that just the idea of a girl having an active role in a story is exciting to me, lol.

THANK YOU!!! I really really appreciate any love for my OCs and I really want to draw them again soon. there's just never enough goofy girl robots in the world.

technically? for like ten minutes, like ten years ago maybe? I remember starting it and immediately finding it boring and with too many complicated mechanics right at the beginning. but I was a less experienced RPG player then, plus I know it has the same team behind it as octopath, which I love. I go back and forth on whether I want to pursue playing it again or not based on various secondhand information so it's in the realm of "maybe someday".

fuck man that's a really good point. I was getting so many theory asks at once that I kinda skimmed this one but now that I'm reading it I'm like okay you might be onto something there! whether supported further by canon or not, great opportunity for symbolism

ahaha well, that is the thing, I don't have much interest in western RPGs. or yknow, ones that arent purposefully modeled after JRPGs. a lot of it just has to do with the difference in style and presentation- I like pixel art (or early polygons), cute character and monster designs, and turn-based combat. I'm not really interested in a lot of modern JRPGs for the same reason, I just don't like the style as much as how they were 20+ years ago. so.... no, I've never played fallout and I don't have much interest in changing that. if I was going to play one though, I'd choose the first game in the series.

no but I've sure seen gifs of those two dudes gayly becoming one with the cosmos or whatever a whole lot

[forrestdabeevee]

Can you do some sfw + nsfw headcanons on a relationship with a male Gardevoir?

Also, do you think it’d be much different from dating a Gallade and/or a female Gardevoir?

Well since you asked two questions I'll answer the second one real quick.

Dating a Gallade would be drastically different than with any Gardevoir due to Gallade's natural want to protect and be a knight for their partner who they will treat like a king or queen.

Meanwhile Female Gardevoir's aren't that different from their male counterparts besides how they are in bed with their partner.

So dating a Gallade would be drastically different than dating a Gardevoir, unless the gardevoir grew up wanting to be a Gallade.

(Also I was initially going to add some yandere headcanons but eventually I just could not come up with anything and I've worked on this too long, but I will make a part two of this someday.)

SFW

Welcome to one of the most loyal but also common partners you can get in the whole pokemon world. If you want a partner that will protect you or love you unconditionally or will help you become the very best you can be, Gardevoir's and Lucario's are the best choices for you.

Well as I mentioned earlier Gardevoir's are extremely loyal to you, almost too much at times. I'd highly suggest making sure your partner knows you don't need them to constantly protect you. A few ways of doing this is by introducing them to your friends, suggesting an open or polyamorous relationship, or just by taking them to areas with people around you both. 

Of course make sure to not over do it due to their natural ability to see into the future as well as their horn being able to detect emotions.

A big thing to look out for is your gardevoir's paranoia when it comes to their future sights, if they detect a bad or dangerous future incoming they will go to great lengths to prevent it from happening, even if the event they saw was weeks away, going from the small making you go down a different path in the park to the drastic forced isolation. I'd highly suggest learning how to communicate with your partner telepathically in order to prevent these issues or to find a more reasonable path on preventing these events he's scared of.

One of the more difficult but relatable problems with having a gardevoir partner is their lack of wanting to worry you or tell you things that may be wrong, relatable honestly. Whether that be their own physical and mental health, whether or not something bad is going to happen, or even if they are scared of fighting or being around people. As someone who had to train their Espeon partner to tell me if anything's wrong it really is difficult to help them, especially since you can't really hide your problems around them without heavy training or heavy dark type exposure.

I'd also highly recommend learning more about your gardevoir partner as depending on their nature or upbringing they may be more comfortable in a distant and rural home away from cities or just somewhere colder and isolated in general.

Fun fact, the dex entries talking about their ability to make black holes is just fictional and heavy exaggeration of their dedication to protecting their masters. Honestly I swear, do the professors handing those things out even read or know anything about the pokemon on their pokedex's?...

And now onto the specifics of male Gardevoirs.

Male Gardevoir's will absolutely help you out both at home and elsewhere, to an extreme degree that you may often find yourself with nothing to do besides hang out with your partner(s), to which he will not mind one bit. If anything he might insist on cuddling while he does the work with his psychic powers.

Male Gardevoir's are typically early birds so unless you, somehow, wake up before them or are a night owl you will wake up after they wake up.

Male gardevoirs more often than not tend to tease their partners, with this being even more prevalent in those that initially wanted to evolve into a Gallade. Of course they only mean this in good fun and will quickly apologize or make up for their mistake if they realize it's too much.

If your partner initially planned on being a Gallade but accidentally evolved too early I'd highly recommend helping them get used to the body and strengths of a Gardevoir as they'll most definitely need help adjusting from the physical prowess they practiced on to the mental prowess of their new form.

If your partner trusts you enough and loves you enough he may ask if you both want to be linked together mentally, this is something that will take a long time for him to ask about but when he does and you think your ready for the next step in your relationship I'd highly recommend it, of course it's not always active but whenever either of you do decide to enable it be ready for some teasing from either him or you if your smart enough.

NSFW

Expect him to be heavily cuddly before, during, and after coitus. Gardevoir's are in the top ten cuddliest pokemon in bed and despite how intimidating their chest horn looks it's actually not that sharp and besides they will find a way to hide it or slide it somewhere comfortable for you both.

If your partner is particularly dominant or enjoys being on top expect him to often decide both the pace of everything and especially when you're allowed to cum. I'll admit, the feeling of being denied by a psychic type is so so much different than with a non psychic partner. Almost to the point I need to take breaks from psychic partners every now and then just so I can feel satisfied with other types.

If he is really dominant, be prepared for either long distance messages of what he'll do to you or phantom senses of him teasing you or even edging you if he's that mean. Of course he'll only do these when he knows you're in an area where you either won't be spotted or can find somewhere to hide.

But if he is more submissive or not as strong at teasing, expect him to ask for permission to link your minds together or ask if you want to feel him while you're away. Personally I love the feeling of them being so desperate for your touch that he conjures up essentially a copy of you to satisfy his deep urges, it's so cute how desperate he can be to pleasure you but also to satisfy his urges too.

If you both have your minds linked together, hoo boy is it an experience! Essentially what will happen is that you'll both feel each other's pleasure or feelings as you're with each other. Now normally this would lead into a feedback loop, and depending on the mental strength of your Gardevoir this loop could last for a minute and intensify until the link snaps but it's still amazing to experience, just don't do it too often otherwise you may either grow addicted to pleasure or go numb for a day or few. So far the longest record for a feedback loop is 1 minute and 5 seconds with a gal and her Hypno.

If you are looking for an experience similar to that of another humans then he'll probably be the best choice, which is not too surprising considering he is in the human-like egg group, but if you're looking for that then why are you here?

[dootznbootz]

dootz. dootz i read an into on the odyssey and it said that penelope enjoyed attention from the suitors. the 108 men who kept harassing her and eating her son’s whole inheritance. bc she had the sudden urge to walk past them and was upset by the bird dream. what—

Okay, so a lil confused on whether you mean "an Odyssey article or post" or read the Odyssey itself and are worried about the fact that "she enjoyed the attention of the suitors".

In general, anyone who ships Penelope with the suitors has a screw loose.

The whole "sudden urge to walk past them" was caused by Athena.

Then goddess Athena with the glittering eyes put an idea in the mind of wise Penelope, Icarius’s daughter—to approach the suitors, so she might truly stir the feeling in their hearts     and acquire more honour from her son and husband than she had before. With an unnatural laugh she spoke out and said:  “Eurynome, though my heart has never once desired to show myself                               before these suitors, it does now, shameless though they may be. And I’ve got words to say to my own son—he would be better off not mingling with those arrogant suitors. They may say nice things, but they’re making plans for nasty schemes in future.”

(Book 18, Johnston)

Personally, I've always kind of seen this as Athena wanting Odysseus to SEE how the Suitors are when they see Penelope in order to make him angrier. He's seen how they treat Telemachus to a degree. Now he can see how they are about his beloved wife. It's also a way for him to see how she's still his lil schemer wife :3

The suitors in their hearts felt immediately overwhelmed, consumed by sexual desire. Their legs grew weak. Each of them prayed that he could go to bed with her. 

Long-suffering Odysseus was pleased that she was getting them to give her gifts, with charming, soothing words, her mind on other things.

(Book 18, Johnston)

(one thing I love about Homer, is that like, despite something being sexually violent in nature to any degree, he's never explicit but still makes the point across of what's happening. It's like, a breath of fresh air because it's not really used as "shock value")

Like, it's for Odysseus to get angry about how they're looking at Penelope most likely, AND to show how these men don't really respect Penelope. A lil bit of contrast I believe as well to show how the suitors see her verses how HE sees her: Suitors see a hot woman and behave disrespectfully while Odysseus sees a intelligent woman playing these idiots like a fiddle to get her way.

And the Bird Dream? Someday I'll write up that essay about how Penelope knew damn well that was her husband under that disguise (still cautious ofc. but she knows that's Odysseus. I'll fight everyone on that. I'm so tired of people downplaying Penelope's intelligence.) But the sum of it, whether it was a real dream or not, or some scenario she came up with on the fly in order to test this beggar some more.

In general, the geese that were killed in her dream were the actual PETS she has. She has like, 20 geese as pets. THAT'S why she's "sad". Like, I'm a pet owner, if I got an omen of something that involved something I wanted but also included my pets dying?? I'd be a lil torn too.

I find it reallyyyy fascinating with how Penelope's name basically means Duck/Goose (usually duck, but they're both water fowl sooooo), and while I don't think it was any symbolism for her there. I think it's something interesting :3

Either way, don't get too worked up about it, Dear Anon. <3 I think Penelope wanting the suitors is honestly not too common of a belief, that it's like, something you gotta worry about. It's all good :3

[steamberrystudio]

Hello!! I am a brand new fan, (only about 75% of my way through my first Changeling playthrough) but I'm enjoying your writing SO much that I want to buy your other games ASAP! I had a few questions though, which I hope you won't mind answering! I tried to find the answers myself so as not to bother you, but I kept running into spoilers posted by other fans, so I thought I'd ask you directly!

1. I want to avoid s3x scenes -- kisses are fine, but I'm uncomfortable with anything nsfw. Do I need to avoid certain games entirely or toggle certain modes on or off or perhaps skip certain parts? Can you give me any insight as to what to expect?

2a. Which is the best platform to purchase your games on? Steam? Itch.io? I would want to make sure you receive the money!!

2b. If Steam is okay, then does it deprive you of any money if I purchase on a Steam sale? (Forgive me if this is a silly question: I don't really know how this stuff works!)

I've read a few of your devlogs talking about your process and the work you put into your games and I just want you to know that even though I'm still very new to your work, I'm amazed at your work and the quality of it!! It's extremely inspirational to me, and I hope someday I can do something cool during my life like you have with your games. Thank you for sharing your storytelling with the world!!

Hello! Thanks for reaching out!

Gilded Shadows and When Stars Collide both have love scenes that can be toggled to "fade to black" in the menu. Essentially it will cut the scene after some kissing and skip to after things have concluded and the characters are snuggling.

If you look at the content guide spreadsheets (for instance, here is Ari's list) you can find an explanation of exactly when and how the "fade" is handled.

All the content guides for each route in GS has an explanation for exactly where and how the fade happens.

When Stars Collide hasn't released the chapter with the NSFW scenes yet but I intend to set up the guide in a similar way. That said, the fades are handled much the same way.

2. Feel free to purchase on Steam or Itch.io - whichever you prefer. Ultimately the two platforms have different pros and cons to them so I prefer to encourage players to make purchases where they are most comfortable.

3. You should take advantage of sales when they're available. Games only go on sale when I want them to do so and with the discount I personally decide on. That means it's something I've chosen to offer to interested players. You should not feel bad for buying the game on sale! They're there to make the games more accessible to people who cannot or don't wish to pay full price!

Finally - when it comes to hoping to do cool things. I can't give a lot of advice and you didn't ask for advice anyway. But I do want to say that if there's ever something you feel inspired to do or that you just want to try - don't sit on that idea. Just try it.

I got into making visual novels because I played one and thought 'That seems interesting. I bet I could do it. I want to try." And that was it. I published Changeling less than four years later.

That was it. That was my whole reason behind starting to make VNs. "I want to try that" followed by "I want to make a really long indie otome game!" ╰(*°▽°*)╯

So if you ever want to try something, just try it.

It's a way to explore, to create and to reach through the cosmos somehow and connect with people you'd never have interacted with otherwise - just like us in this post right now! OwO

[casinoroyale]

Hi everyone!! Theseus cquackity viceduo zombur revivebur here.

This blog has seen several hiatuses (my bad seriously my bad), and bouts of irregular posting. So I'm sure people who regularly check it have noticed that we (Fiona @quackbur and I) haven't been posting daily anymore and haven't for a bit now. So below the cut I'm gonna talk more about that, and our plans for this blog going forward

For starters, I love roleplaying on this blog so much, as does my cohost Fiona @quackbur. Fiona has done so, so much writing for this and I feel kind of bad for taking her credit over the past two or so years, so props to her for being such a good sport and for everything she's done. This blog wouldn't exist without the shared passion she had for it.

To get sappy, I love the friends I've made in bedrockverse, they remain some of my best and closest companions. I would not trade the times I've spent with them for the world. Beau, Holly & co, Met & Co, and Thunderbottles are some of the loveliest, most supportive, and insanely talented people I have ever had the pleasure of writing with and meeting.

This includes people who aren't part of the bedrockverse that I've written with!! Shoutout to Javi anonymous-jey casino-duckling, TGM the-g-m duckofthelaw, and AD anonymous-dentist therealnoodleman. It was so much fun bringing all the quackverses together, and I respect all of you so much as writers.

AND that also includes EVERYONE who has interacted with her!!!!!!!!!! Everyone who has sent asks (thank you so much, sorry we're terrible at replying), reblogged threads, commented, posted/liveblogged, DREW FAN ART (BLOWS OUR MINDS. THERE'S BEEN SO MUCH INCREDIBLE ART CREATED, WE CANNOT THANK ALL OF YOU ENOUGH), even just liked a thread, thank you. Seriously, it has meant a lot to us to be part of this community, and have so many people enjoy this blog. Insert Pitbull image happy you enjoyed.

So, going forward it would make us really happy if you all pictured casinoroyale as happy. He has songbird-sunrise, goofygoop, and a nation full of citizens that she loves. She babysits for tubbolul and latenightmining, and terrorizes rp!emduo not infrequently. All we really wanted was to bring c!quackity to a happy place and I feel we've done that. Of course he still has shit days, as a ptsd baddie, but the good days are more common. And if we never get to it (though I hope someday we do, maybe in the form of a collaborative one-shot or fic) know that casinoroyale and songbird-sunrise DO eventually get [REDACTED]. And one of them DOES get [REDACTED]. That was always the plan! Yay! [REDACTED]!

Not to say that we don't have more arcs planned for this blog, because we do! I just don't know when/if/how they'll ever get written, especially because a lot of my friends have moved on from their rp blogs as well. But I really do still feel happy with where he's at and happy with everything I've done. This is a project I'm really, really proud of and I will always look back on fondly.

None of this means that I'm not interested in c!Quackity or DSMP as a whole anymore, either. Actually that couldn't be further from the truth. But now I'd like to be able to focus on fics, and other forms of writing, which I've been doing more recently :D actually, you can read a short one shot I posted for exile's anniversary HERE

If you've made it this far into this long, sappy post, THANKS!!!!!! The TLDR; this blog is on an indefinite hiatus, and won't be returning to its formal glory, and that's okay. We had a really good run. Now, off we go to other things

[littleprofits]

Get to know your mutuals!

I got tagged by @threefill (who is SUCH a good storyteller & cool human.)

What's the origin of your blog title?

Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson!

It little profits that an idle king,  By this still hearth, among these barren crags,  Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole  Unequal laws unto a savage race,  That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.

It was my favorite poem for a looong time. go read it!

OTP(s) + shipname(s)

Dreamling. Nuff said.

Favourite colour

Dark green and burnt orange, especially together.

Song stuck in your head

Right now? Mariposa tecknicolor by Fito Paez. In general? A small handful of Child Ballads, all running into each other and getting tangled.

Weirdest habit/trait

I have the standard level of weirdness that most theatremakers have, but beyond that a profound hatred of socks (for sensory reasons but also acting and martial arts are better done barefoot). Also, I get genuinely stressed when I step on the black tiles of checkered floors. I should have gone into the clergy.

Hobbies

BG3 has consumed me whole. I also keep bees, love cooking, and am learning to knit.

If you work, what's your profession?

A small flotilla of survival jobs, none of which pay humanely, let alone well. Beneath these, I am a playwright and dramaturg, but I'm still working on getting my work out there.

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be?

Professor of theatre. And I would write plays on breaks and sabbaticals. And it would be lovely.

Something you're good at

I am a really good intertextual thinker. I love connecting ideas and disciplines together -- it's a thread I really enjoy pulling in my writing. I also have an encyclopedic knowledge of sea shanties.

Something you hate

TikTok and the social media instant gratification machine for the absolutely cataclysmic damage it has done and is doing to the youngest and most vulnerable minds of the world. And everyone else's too, including mine.

Something you collect

Books, which I really ought to start reading someday. Also antique maps! My favorite shows medieval French pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela.

Something you forget

Fucking everything. Currently forgetting at least five things, I guarantee it. Including my glasses again -- fuck. Most frustratingly, I establish systems to avoid this bs and then I forget those too.

What's your love language?

French or acts of service.

Favourite movie/show

Pirates of the Caribbean, which I rewatch annually, and LoTR, which I rewatch hourly.

Favourite food

Eel! LOVE unagi don. Tried caldillo de congrio for the first time this year and nearly wept.

Favourite animal

Bees! Wrote a thesis on them once! Ask me about it!

What were you like as a child?

Whip-smart, but also super depressed. I sincerely believed I was a wizard until um. a very late age.

Favourite subject at school

French and English, and really anything presented narratively. I remember stories best.

Least favourite subject

PE for the bullshit rules -- wheelchair user in my class once got flunked for inappropriate footwear. Also geometry, but that was a teacher problem.

What's your best character trait?

I am deeply, powerfully curious, and love learning, and moving towards deeper and broader understandings. I'm also a damn good writer and a damn good friend.

What's your worst character trait?

I'm easily thwarted -- high-pressure situations make me shut down, and this 'weakness' sends me spiraling. So I really don't get very much done nowadays, to my infinite chagrin. And off of that, I'm very overeager to minimize my own accomplishments.

If you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be?

Lots on the geopolitical level. But my life? I would get into grad school. Or out of debt. And write another play. Or -- wait -- I would choose to win lots and lots of money in the lottery so I could send all my friends to grad school on my dime and pay off all our loans. Then I'd buy us a manor in Provence.

Tagging, with NO pressure whatsoever, @cleverlittlekobold @gingersnaptaff @iiiphigenia :)