#i'll just make a post that says i simply will not be opening the site ever again please call or text me like it's 2010

[micamone]

my touch screen is going out on my phone. everything else works just fine and there's no damage to the screen or pixels out, it's just not taking input as consistently anymore. I'll have to put it down for a while and just... wait it out until the ability to use it comes back. except in one area towards the top, where it's always dead.

and it's making me hate technology even more. not cause of the... inconvenience per se, i don't even get calls often and if i did i still have visibility on my screen for caller ID and could use my husbands phone to call them back. if i want to message people or read stories i can go to my desktop.

but it's frustrating because the knowledge of like if my old cell phone's screens went out and nothing else i could still use them as a phone. i could still dial people in emergencies and accept incoming calls without problems, because there were real buttons i could use. I can't use the basic fuckin function of a phone. I can't even restart my current phone without using the touch screen.

[kindnessoverperfection]

Please, if you can, take a moment to read and share this because I feel like I'm screaming underwater.

NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) stigma is rampant right now, and seems to be getting progressively worse. Everyone is using it as a buzzword in the worst ways possible, spreading misinformation and hatred against a real disorder.

I could go on a long time about how this happened, why it's factually incorrect (and what the disorder actually IS), why it's harmful, and the changes I'd like to see. But to keep this concise, I'll simply link to a few posts under the cut for further reading.

The point of this post is a plea. Please help stop the spread of stigma. Even in mental health communities, even around others with personality disorders, in neurodivergent "safe" spaces, other communities I thought people would be supportive in (e.g. trans support groups, progressive spaces in general), it keeps coming up. So I'm willing to bet that a lot of people on this site need to see this.

Because it's so hard to exist in this world.

My disorder already makes me feel as if I'm worthless and unlovable, like there's something inherently wrong and damaged about me. And it's so much harder to fight that and heal when my daily life consists of:

Laughing and spending time with my friends, doing my utmost best to connect and stay present and focused on them, trying to let my guards down and be real and believe I'm lovable- when suddenly they throw out the word "narcissist" to describe horrible people or someone they hate, or the conversation turns to how evil "people with narcissistic personality disorder" are. (Seriously, you don't know which of your friends might have NPD and feels like shit when you say those things & now knows that you'd hate them if you knew.)

Trying to look up "mental health positivity for people with npd", "mental health positivity cluster bs", only to find a) none of that, and b) more of the same old vile shit that makes me feel terrible about myself.

Having a hard time (which is constant at this point) and trying to look up resources for myself, only to again, find the same stigma. And no resources.

Not having any clue how to help myself, because even the mental health field is spitting so much vitriol at people with DISORDERS (who they're supposed to be helping!) that there's no solid research or therapy programs for people like me.

Losing close friends when they find out, despite us having had a good relationship before, and them KNOWING me and knowing that I'm not like the trending image of pwNPD. Because now they only see me through the lens of stigma and misinformation.

Hearing the same stigma come up literally wherever I go. Clubs. Meetings. Any online space. At the bus stop. At the mall. At a restaurant. At work. Buzzword of the year that everyone loooves loudly throwing around with their friends or over the phone. Feels awesome for me, makes my day so much better/s

I could go on for a long time, but I'm scared no one will read/rb this if it gets too much longer.

So please. Stop using the word "narcissist" as a synonym for "abusive".

Stop bringing up people you hate who you believe to have NPD because of a stigmatizing article full of misinformation whenever someone with actual NPD opens their mouth. (Imagine if people did that with any other disorder! "Hey, I'm autistic." "Oh... my old roommate screamed at me whenever I made noise around him, and didn't understand my needs, which seems like sensory overload and difficulty with social cues. He was definitely autistic. But as long as you're self-aware and always restraining your innate desire to be an abusive asshole, you're okay I guess, maybe." ...See how offensive and ignorant that is?)

Stop preventing healthcare for people with a disorder just because it's trendy to use us as a scapegoat.

If you got this far, thank you for reading, and please share this if you can. Further reading is under the cut.

NPD Criteria, re-written by someone who actually has NPD

Stigma in the DSM

Common perception of the DSM criteria vs how someone may actually experience them (Keep in mind that this is the way I personally experience these symptoms, and that presentation can vary a lot between individuals)

"Idk, the stigma is right though, because I've known a lot of people with NPD who are jerks, so I'm going to continue to support the blockage of treatment for this condition."

(All of these were written by me, because I didn't want to link to other folks' posts without permission, but if you want to add your own links in reblogs or replies please feel free <3)

[heartfullofleeches]

You mentioned in a headcanon post about how Tobi would knock reader out with their voice when they did something they didnt like, could you make an example scenario 4 us ? :0

"No."

There are many things Tobi can protect you from. Ghosts and demons, spiteful commentors and people who wouldn't take no for an answer were forces they could easily handle as simply as flicking off a light switch. Ancient, decrepit houses - as hard as they may try, weren't always included in that list.

As per usual - Tobi left to explore the house you'd picked out for your next stream couple days prior to the stream to rid the place of any hostile spirits or other elements that may bring you harm. It was pretty much habitual for them scout every location, and helped relived some of their stress towards leaving you to your own devices in what was essential the unknown.

The house was far worse off inside that the pictures you had showed them conveyed. A riverside lodge annihilated by a enraged storm and the overflooding waters from the river bank. The young couple who owned the home tragically drowned after leaving the sun roof open the night prior and failing to wake up before it was too late. The walls sagged with age and decades of water weight, and the warped, rotting floors could barely handle Tobi's lanky stature and size.

Normally, they'd just install some temporary support planks and forbid you from venturing to the top floor or basement, but exploring deeper they came to the conclusion this site was far too dangerous for you to step a single foot inside.

Heading towards the stairway to the top floor, there was a large gap right between where the first step and the bottom floor met. It was narrow enough to where they could just step over - but Tobi noticed something right as they peered casually into the hole. A piece of fabric stuck to the spliters of the wood. It was in too good a condition to be something from the incident, but that's not what made Tobi pause.

The scrap of cloth matched perfectly to a jacket you had just released - the same jacket you were throwing on now.

"Aw, come on, Tobi - this could be our big break!"

Their fingers fly to fast across their phone screen for your eyes to keep up.

"Too dangerous."

Laughing, you zip up your jacket as you reach for your keys. "You always say that. If you're scared, you can wait in the car and I'll cut the stream short. I did okay on my own before you came around."

Grabbing the tail end of your jacket, Tobi's mind rushes back to the second sight they saw in that hole. The bloated corpses of one of your followers - staring straight up at him. They couldn't even remember what their face looked like. All they saw was yours. It was always yours.

Tobi grabs your wrist, squeezing the ball of your hand until you're forced to lose your grip on your keys. Stay. Don't go. Your adventurous spirit was one of the endless things they loved about you and they'd never take that away - but if you left their sight for a single second then-

"No......"

Pressure builds behind your eyes. You pres a hand to your temple, shaking off the brief wave of nausea "Ugh.. Tobi... I'll be okay, I promise. I got a little headache now, so I didn't won't be out long. "

No.... Flashes of your face in that horrible state cloud their already fogged mind- eyes glossy, skin pale and so, so cold. A far cry from the life and warmth you gave off now. It would only take one second. One second for you to get hurt. One second for them to lose you. They can't go back to life without you. They can't be that empty shell rotting away in an equally decaying home. They can't - they won't. You can't leave them.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO LEAVE ME!"

It all happens so fast. Your brain throbs. Without utter a single word, you place your fingers your lips - red being all you see. Shaking, you look up at your cameraman as your jaw goes slack.

"To-"

Your eyes glaze over, trembling legs unable to support the remaining weight of your body as you fall. Tobi dives to the floor, catching you in their arms before your unceremoniously landing. Your head almost hits the floor before their arms shoot out to catch you. He supports it and your neck on his shoulder, unzipping your jacket with the same tremors you had before your fall. Tobi removes their hat and places their ear to your chest.

One beat. Two-

You're still alive. Deep down they knew, but for the sake of their aching heart they had to make sure. Tobi carefully zips your jacket back up and once they do - they begin to cry. If your comatose state was good for one thing it was leaving you in the dark, unharmed by their wails and pleads.

"sorry... I'm so sorry... I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I love you. I love you. Please - please don't leave me..Don't leave me."

Tobi slowly regains their composure. They wipe the blood from your nose, and their thick tears from your face as they stand. Tobi carries you to your bedroom and places you in bed. They clear your search history of anything related to the cabin and burn the notes along it. They reserve a table at your favorite restaurant for tomorrow, praying you'll wake up before the time comes. As you rest they rehearse their lines for when you wake - thankful you'll never hear the break in their voice when they lie.

[deeptrashwitch]

OC Interview

Alright! I saw Taro did this here and she did it after seeing this post from @kaitaiga about their OC's being intervewed! And why not, it sounded fun, so let's do it!! (Also it's a interesting challenge, since I rarely write in second person in some parts)

November 2024

You arrive to the medium sized base near Fort Cavazos with a bit or nervousness, you've heard about it before. When you were told about this interview, one of your collegues told you what she knew about that place. Apparently this was her sister's place, and she was meant to be the one to make the interview, but she was sent to another site instead.

In silence you shook your head, for some reason it didn't surprise you coming from Camila Marchant. Anyway, you went to the door where someone was already waiting for you despite the movement behind her. She introduced herself only as Wraith, and simply guided you through the yard.

To your surprise, a plane was open and people were pouring out of it. All of them covered in dust and just now taking off their helmet. And one by one nodded towards Wraith before going to one of the buildings.

At least until the only woman came down and looked at Wraith, shaking her head softly. She was in her gear, with half her face covered by a mask and she simply took off her helmet before speaking.

"You brought her in the worst moment possible, Wraith." She said, amused while walking towards you.

"You said you'd do the interview no matter what, didn't you?" Wraith joked. "And anyway, this is about the 75th Regiment, Alicia, it was necessary."

You didn't understand why they mentioned the Rangers Regiment, but you decided to stay quiet. Instead you noticed how she nodded with a sigh.

Then she laughed and then looked at you. "I'm sorry for Wraith, she's like that. Is it okay for you do it now? Well, despite me being covered in dust."

You looked at her, surprised for a second, and then nodded. "Y-yes! There's no problem, ma'am!"

"Great, then let's go walk for a while."

Then you started to walk with her in a calm silence, until you took out you notebook to start the interview. You glanced at her and sighed relieved when she nodded.

Basis

Name

"Alicia Marchant. Captain of the Marine Corps and the leader of my team, the guys you saw earlier in the plane. And I'm the only Marine in my family."

Are you single?

"No, I'm not. I'm a relationship with my boyfriend, Alejandro, and we are pretty much serious."

Birthplace

"I was born in Arlington, Texas. So nothing really weird about that, actually we're kinda near my hometown."

Hair color?

"Black, it comes from both sides of the family. My siblings are also black-haired."

Eye color?

"Brown, like everyone in my mom's side of the family. Honestly? Only my sister has blue eyes, and we always say that fate had pity of my dad and let one of us look a bit like him." She joked, chuckling with a little smile.

Birthday?

"October 15th, right now I'm 37. But damn, I feel like I'm 50, my whole body cracks as if I was made of wood or somethin', y'know?"

Gender

She looked at you and smiled a bit with her eyebrow raised. "Female. I've always been a female."

Mood

"Hungry." She admited, making you chuckle. "No, seriously, I'm hungry. So after this, I'll go get something to eat."

Are you happy?

"At the moment? I don't think so, I'm too tired to be sure. But in my general life? That's a good question, to be honest. I'd say...yeah, somehow I'm happy, mostly because after so many crap that has happened to me, I think I'm grateful and happy to be alive." She said with a soft hum while you both walked next to the walls.

Are you angry?

She laughed, a cold laugh that sent a shiver down your spine. "Trust me, you'd know if I was angry right now. Unfortunately that's one of the emotions I can't control completely. There's only a person I'm truly angry with, and it won't be nice."

Summer/Winter?

"Hmmm, winter, I think. I like winter more than summer to be honest."

Morning/Afternoon?

"Morning, despite I'm usually sleepy, I prefer do most thing in the morning. And, at least inside the base, I like the environment we have in the morning with my team."

Eight things about your life

Are you in love?

"Absolutely yes."

Who ended your last relationship?

She coughed and looked away for a second. "...That's a spiky topic, um, but, it was my ex. The reason? Well, mostly because of our ideals, but we had a WHOLE lot of other problems between she and I. So, let's leave it there."

Have you ever broken someone's heart?

"Yes, during high school. It was during the time I was denying my romantic preferences, so it was also messy as hell."

Are you afraid of commitment?

"No, I'm not. Actually, after I started my relationship, again, with my boyfriend, we've been thinking about marriage. Even before we were thnking about marriage. And also, even if we didn't, I'd still be commited to the realtionship."

Have you hugged someone within the last week?

"Nope, neither this week."

Have you ever had a secret admirer?

"So far I'm aware, no. But considerng I was really easy to distract during my teenage years and I had my identity crisis, probably there was one that I don't know. I'd have to ask my siblings."

Six Choices

Love or lust?

"Love, no doubt."

Iced tea or lemonade?

"Lemonade. I never liked iced tea for some reason."

Cats or dogs?

"Both. I simply like animals in general, except snakes, those are the only ones I can't tolerate. We have both here, they're the favorites of this place." She said with a chuckle.

A few best friends or many regular friends?

"Also both. I like to have a big group of friends to pass the time, but to be honest I just have three or four people that are my best friends. They're the ones that know almost everything about me."

Wild night out or romantic night in?

"Night in. We're usually too tired with Alejo to think and go out, so we simply get some food and we watch a movie or even make cooking our date."

Day or night?

"Day, always day. I have...a problem with the darkness, so I prefer the day."

Four have you evers

Been caught sneaking out?

"Nope, that was my cousin. I was quite calm as a child and I didn't want to do it when I was in basic. So no, never."

Fell up/down stairs?

"...Yes, and no one in my family has let that one die. I fell down a set of stairs while I ran trying to win over a piece of fruit, and the worst part was that I didn't get the damn fruit."

Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt?

"Being a Lancero. I was doubtful at first, but once I got into the course I simply said to myself: I'm not leaving without the damn badge. And it was horribly painful to win that, but I managed to get it, and it made everything worth it."

Wanted to dissapear?

Then she stopped for a second, looking down at the floor before sigh and keep walking. And she spoke serious and sharply. "Not gonna deny it, I've wanted to dissapear more than once. And that's all I'll say about it."

Four preferences

Smile or Eyes?

"Both, definitely both. I always looked at the eyes and the smile when I had boyfriends or girlfriends, it's something I love personally."

Shorter or taller?

"I don't mind, honestly."

Intelligence or attraction?

"Ehhh, both too, I have to admit. A bit of intelligence so we can speak really nice and attraction because, well, I like some things." She joked, humming.

Hook up or relationship?

"Relationship, I'm not much of the hook up part, I'm not comfortable with it."

Family

Do you and your family get along?

"Absolutely! My siblings and I have a great relationship, and also my cousins are really close with us despite the distance. And don't make me start with the relationships with my uncles, my aunt, my grandparents and us! Get along it's leaving it short." She said with a laugh.

Would you say you have a ‘messed up��� life?

"Nah, I had a normal life, just the usual problems of trouble kids with my cousins, but they were mostly our doing because we were bored."

Have you ever run away from home?

"Hell no, honestly, before enlisting I had no idea what to do even if I ended locked out of home. Say less if I ran away, I would've been so screwed just starting."

Have you ever gotten kicked out?

"Also no, my parents never kicked us out and I thank them for that."

Friends

Do you secretly hate one of your friends?

"No...? Why would I hate them if they're my friends?" She says with a laugh.

Have you considered all your friends’ good friends?

"I mean, yeah, I've been lucky they are good friends despite how screwed we are up here, y'know?" She commented, pointing to her head with a shrug.

Who is your best friend?

"Ohhh, do I have to choose just one? Because Alejo is one, but there's also Rudy, and there's also Luke and Kanoa and Tiala (@islandtarochips oc's). So I don't know who to choose, being completely honest with you."

Who knows everything about you?

"Alejandro, my boyfriend, he knows basically everything about me."

Like that, the interview finished and you look at the woman, who just raises an eyebrow. Once you inform her that she just nodded calmly, and started to guide you to the front gate of the base.

"Did we finish? That was surprisingly quick." She said with a soft hum. "I have to admit it was interesting."

"Eh, yes, we already finished the questions I had for you. Thank you so much, Captain." You said with nervousness.

"You're welcome, thanks for coming all the way here. I'm sorry I couldn't do this in my office or anything."

You shook your head. Then, to your surprise, she took off the mask and let you see the rest of her face. As she smiled, you tried not to stare at the huge scars nad instead tried to keep looking at her eyes. In the end, you just looked away before they arrived to the main gate.

Alicia just nodded towards her while Wraith came back, this time reading something on a tablet. In silence, she gave it to Alicia, who just read it before getting serious for a second and then smiled calmly at you.

"Excuse me, work calls." She said before walking away, leaving you with Wraith.

Wraith just hummed softly and looked at you. "Seems like you had a good talk with her, huh?"

"Um, y-yeah, it was an interesting talk. Thank you for letting me come for the interview, Ms. Wraith."

After that, you were guided outside of the base to get your car and go back to edit the column. However, right before you walked out the gate, you noticed something on a bag. It was a patch, blue with a broken sword and a lighting bolt.

You didn't say anything, but it called your attention since you knew other patch when reading a bit about that team. In silence and with a soft frown, you shook your head and simply went to your car. It was better not to ask about it, you had a feeling that something about then should remain hidden.

Taglist (just to show :3): @alypink @snootlestheangel @islandtarochips @hollywood-is-bleeding

@cynicvice @midnight193 @mutantthedark @justasmolbard @welldonekhushi

@tapioca-milktea1978 @imagoddamnonionmason @stargazing-sapphire2 @milkteaarttime @blacktacmopsi

@maymaylyn @thatonesillyducko @seraphiixiao @me-is-confused @gunnrblze

[punkasshunter]

After much, much, much experimentation and back-and-forth, here it finally is! This is the Left 4 Dead-themed Ao3 site skin I've been working on for the past couple months! So far as I can tell, no one has posted anything like this, which obviously I had to change.

This is my first time making an Ao3 skin, so there will likely be areas that I've missed that will turn up broken or clumsy, and if so I will keep a running "change log". With that in mind, I'd strongly request feedback so that I can make these fixes and update the CSS with them!

This is to be followed in the near (likely within a few days) future by a similar work skin, allowing for a similar look within just a posted work, and giving the ability to use subtitle-colored character text like the tags in this!

This is not a lightweight skin; it themes virtually every area of Ao3 in some way. With that in mind, here are some major features!

"Saferoom graffiti"-style comments and inbox mail and health bar UIs for comment and inbox icons

A fun new site header! Just wait and see.

Campaign poster-style blurbs for works!

Campaign menu selection border title blocks and image borders.

Canon character tags in the color of their ingame subtitles, for both the survivors and special infected!

Detailed instructions are in the Ao3 work linked in this post, but I'll include them here as well under the cut.

Instructions to create and use the skin

This is important! If you will be using this skin for mobile at all, you must go through the steps to add the mobile parent skin, or else a lot will be broken and borderline unusable on small screens. If you will be using for desktop solely you can feel free to use only the main skin.

Creating the parent skin:

The first thing that needs to be done is to create a site skin with the mobile fix CSS. Go to your dashboard, and select the button on your side menu that says "Skins". From there, you will want to click "Create Skin". For skin type, select "site skin". Title the skin something recognizable, such as "L4D site skin mobile fixes". Then copy all of the code found here into the body. On "Advanced Options" hit "Show". The only setting here you need to worry about is Media, where you will check the box for "only screen and (max-width: 42em)". It should look like this.

Hit "Submit" and step 1 should be done!

The main skin:

Step two is to create the main portion of the skin and add the mobile fixes as the parent skin! Return to "Skins" on your dashboard, and create a second site skin. Title this something recognizable as well, such as "L4D site skin". Once again, you'll be selecting "Site skin" in the dropdown. Copy all of the code found here into the body. If you won't be on mobile at all, hit submit now and the skin will be good to go. Otherwise, show "Advanced Options" again. This time, the category you want is "Parent Skins". In the selection box, begin to type and then select whatever you titled your mobile fix skin, and then press "Add Parent". This should look something like this.

Hit submit again, and the skin creation is done!

The theme fonts:

Note that this skin was designed to use two text fonts from the Left 4 Dead games, Future Rot and Stubble Bold, to look exactly as intended, and one more open text font, Moinho, for the headings of the graffiti-styled comments and inbox. Those can be found in this folder, but are optional, and the skin will function fine without them. To use them, simply download, and then once they are downloaded, click on them and press “Install” in the window that appears with the example text.

Using the skin:

You're almost done! The last step is simply to go to the "Skins" tab of your dashboard again, where you should see the blurbs for your mobile fix skin and the main skin. Click "Use" on the main skin, and that will select the skin to use!

Here are, without spoiling a couple of the fun easter eggs, some preview images of the skin on desktop!

...And on mobile!

[subism]

Tumblr, AI, and The Impossible Year

I'm very disappointed by the news that Tumblr's content is going to be used to train AI. with a default Opt-In and questionable means of opting out. As an artist, this is something I cannot abide. From January 1, 2012 to January 1, 2014 I shot and posted a Polaroid photograph a day to this site, and when the pandemic hit in 2020 I resumed in April of that year and carried through (although less strictly) until May of 2021.

This was all posted to theimpossibleyear.tumblr.com / theimpossibleyear.com. It was a personal blog, and a deeply personal project. I showed what I was doing every day for multiple years.

There are literally hundreds of people featured throughout this project. Friends, family, colleagues, some of whom I had fallings out with, and some whom have since passed away.

These folks did not consent to have their likenesses used to train facial recognition algorithms or AI image generators. According to US copyright law, I am the owner to the photographs, and I can sublicense them however I want. I'm not keen on Tumblr doing the same. And while social media sites like Tumblr always had the rights to do things like this in their privacy policies, tools like Dall-E and Midjourney didn't exist at the time, and I never conceived of such a thing. My personal views on AI aside, I don't think allowing the likenesses of these folks to be bought and sold in such a way without their consent is ethical. Hypothetically I could reach out to every single one of them (or at least those still living) and ask for their consent, but aside from the tedium and awkwardness of having to repeatedly have that conversation, including with some folks I no longer associate with, I simply don't want to.

Additionally, I don't believe most folks really understand machine learning algorithms, large language models, and AI image generators, and I think honestly, it would be extremely hard to get informed consent for such a matter, and I sincerely believe most people would say 'No' if they understood it.

I believe artists should be compensated for their work, and I believe when that work is used for profit that the subjects of such work either need to have consented to that first. And, through that lens, the entitled beliefs of the people behind corporations like Open-AI and Midjourney, that they should be able to train off this work for free absolutely disgusts me. And I am disheartened to see Tumblr go the same route.

I do believe there are positive sides to AI, I do believe it is somewhat inevitable, but I do not believe the ends justify these means.

While I believe strongly in the public domain and creative commons, and I think US copyright law is deeply broken, I also know how hard it is to make a living as an artist. I will not I cannot sit by and just allow my own work, my own memories, my friends, family, and loved ones to be used as a tool to enrich billionaires at the expense of small creators.

I used to think that when I died I wanted all of my creative works to be willed into the public domain for the good of everyone. Now I'm not so sure. As such, I will be removing my content from Tumblr in the coming weeks. As I write this I'm importing the content of theimpossibleyear.tumblr.com to a self hosted server and theimpossibleyear.com is redirecting there. Once I am sure it's been successfully migrated I'll remove all of the content from Tumblr for good.

I know relocated content can still be scraped by AI bots against my will. But I'm considering ways of disabling crawlers, making it password protected and/or parsing all of the images through Nightshade or some other tool. At the very least I’ll have made my terms clear. I'm still figuring out what to do with this blog. It will eventually go away, but I have yet to decide what will happen with the content. Either way, this sucks. I am so tired.

[billyharringson]

Writing Patterns (Tag Game)

Rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

tagged by the absolutely wonderful @ihni. This seems like such fun and I can't wait to see if there is an actual pattern. I'm guessing it's the first ever line so i'll go back to chapter 1 of the multi-chapter fics.

Billy couldn't remember the last time he’d actually come into contact with another person, be they human or hybrid like him. (x)

2. Billy was eight years old when his mother left, and sometimes when he looked back on it, he wonders if it would have been kinder for her to have simply skulked away in the middle of the night. (x)

3. Since realising and accepting the fact that he was bisexual Steve had often found himself venturing into a few of the ‘gayer’ parts of porn sites. (x)

4. "Please, Stevie." (x)

5. Hawkins was hell. (x)

6. “If you’re that convinced then just go and ask him.” Joyce said, her smile evident in her voice despite the fact that she had her back to him. (x)

7. Joyce heaved a long-suffering sigh as the door to Billy’s room slammed open and Hank barrelled out, clutching at his face, rivulets of blood streaming through his fingers. (x)

8. The day that William Hargrove had been born Cornelius had sighed in disappointment. (x)

9. Starcourt Mall was gone, disappeared in an explosion of fireworks and nightmares that still haunted Billy’s every waking moment. (x)

10. Billy wasn’t a stranger to waking up with a hangover. (x)

So, I always thought I tended to open scenes with dialogue but maybe that's in later chapters. I'd say if there's a pattern it's that I tend to open with a line describing something about the POV character?

I actively try to start my fics with something dramatic or at least captivating, like a short sentence that makes someone go 'oh so why is that?' and then keep reading?

Anyway this was fun. No-pressure tags for @applewillowstone @shieldofiron @whataboutthefish and @weird-an

[yamarts]

Thoughts on posting my art online.

Hey, Yama here, the artist running this blog.

For those who don't know, I've been here for a long time. I started posting my art online in 2007, and never stopped. I have seen the rise of social media and how the algorithm dictates the visibility of artists and how well they do online. And I am currently watching how things have been getting worse for us artists, how it seems that everything is built against us.

I'll be frank: I don't care about getting a lot of likes, I don't care about hoarding a lot of followers and trying to please the algorithm. For years I've been basically sitting in my corner doing my own thing, and that's been enough to make me happy.

But there is an issue here, an issue a lot of you probably don't realise:

The way I have been making art (for years now) is not sustainable.

Let me explain. For every new follower it's almost like I lose five: people leaving the online space, becoming just inactive, losing interest and so on. It's been gradual progress, but my followerbase (on multiple sites) has been shrinking a lot these past few years. And it continues doing so.

And going to be honest here (and I know some people I know will cheer for me even saying this), I do art on professional level here. I put a lot of time and effort into even minuscule details, use tools I buy myself with my own money and spend big part of my free time on art-related work — for free. The work I do for like five active followers online is simply not sustainable. And I've barely got any commission offers even after I publicly opened them at the beginning of this year (I've actually taken commissions for many years now).

I do art for myself, for my passion to create, and I love making people smile with my work. That has not changed, and it probably never will. But posting my art online? Well. The future is uncertain, let's just say that. With the way most social medias are built around algorithms that don't favor artists, it's hard to stay afloat with sheer will alone.

Ending this on a question aimed towards other artists reading this, potentially ones who has also been here and seen these developments in social media unfold before their own eyes: how has your art performed now compared to past? Have you noticed a change? And if so, is it for the better or worse? I am curious to know.

[gren-arlio]

So. Fia and the Mysterious School.

So uh...Yeah, I know I'm seriously late to the party when it comes to this stuff, but I realized that this was mostly done and it was in drafts, so I might as well post it. This might just be filler for the big post, but enjoy nevertheless. ----

Madou 4 is... looking pretty cool, I'm not gonna lie. Really enjoying the art direction they're going for. And the designs of the characters? Amazing.

Like genuinely, even if it doesn't get an official English release, I'm down to watch and learn about it.

(They're so...silly...)

Even the screenshot of the overworld is very charming to boot.

I heard a pal say "It looks like Gen 6 of Pokémon" and I could see it, but we'll have to wait and see for the true experience of this game.

I'll make what I think of the characters a Read More thing. Imo, looking amazing.

You can read about the stuff right here.

---

Fia:

The newest silly girl on the block. Besides me thinking that Witch finally got her name chosen, I genuinely love the design they went for, since small hats are peak character designs.

Apparently she's a bit of an airhead and I'm all for it. Let her get involved into dumb stuff because she's dense and clueless and stupid. We love that in this world.

---

Will:

Tbh, besides the whole crop top thing he has, I absolutely dig the design and color choices they went for. And also excluding the fact that his name is Will in a fantasy game, I do find it curious that he has a twin brother, Roy, who's apparently a teacher.

Oh, and since this is making headlines: Apparently he's got a mix of Lagnus and Rulue in him. So he HAS to be peak.

---

Leena:

I really dig the design, I won't deny it, somehow they made almost all blue look really, really nice. The site says that she's calm and collected, but struggles with speaking to people, which I will most likely hope is just her being shy to talk to people, rather than the whole "She just sounds like a pervert," like Schezo does.

She also apparently reads a lot, if the glasses and the shy personality didn't point at her being quite the reader. So with that, she might be peak.

---

Totto:

Green mage with white hair that covers the eye? Where have I seen that before... Jokes aside, he does open his eyes compared to someone we do know, and he's pretty different. According to the site, he's someone with a lotta info...you just gotta pay the dude for it. So like Anna from Fire Emblem.

Also apparently, there's some promise he made to someone? Who knows about it for now?

---

Eska:

Now this design is pretty unique, yellow and white with pink eyes is an interesting choice of coloring they went for. I genuinely like what they went for with her, AND she's half dragon? I wonder what they're gonna go with her.

She gains interest to Fia (It google translates to Fear, so uh...yeah.) after the start of the game, and she doesn't really have common sense, which is gonna be interesting.

---

Roy:

Besides the fact that he is NOT our boy this time around, Roy is Will's twin brother who went the teacher route in life rather than the hero route. He's basically the antithesis of Will; Cool-headed and prefers to be realistic to Will's optimism.

Also, I think he visually looks better than Will, but eh, that could change in due time.

---

And finally, Jurk:

Besides his kinda bad name IMO, I like his design a lot. A guy who simply travels the world is always a fun concept in any game, and his design is honestly one of the best I've seen from the game. He's also friends with the headmaster of the school, which could be interesting.

My main concern is the person he tags along with, Mew. She's probably going to be an alright character, but I don't have super high hopes of that. Plus, her design isn't selling me at all, it just doesn't look right.

---

But yeah, those are (at least for now), my honest thoughts for the game RN. Maybe when more is covered and shown off sometime. But that'll be all for today.

[inksandpensblog]

I'm gonna make it it's own post so I don't keep scrambling Tulip's notifications. This analysis is inspired by Tulip's speculation here.

How might the series portray Chosen, if they put him in an antagonistic role the next time he appears in-series? Here are my thoughts:

I've always been firm in my deduction that Chosen doesn't want to hurt other stickfigures, or to see other stickfigures be hurt by Dark.

He has no qualms about frikin murdering AIM and doing who-knows-what to all the other icons.

But then he spares Dark for seemingly no reason.

While the two of them are rampaging, Chosen has no qualms about causing destruction on user-dominated sites, or about enacting violence against the possibly-sentient NPCs and PCs in videogames.

It's only when their rampage takes them to Stickpage, and other stickfigures come under their fire, that he begins to falter.

(And then he keeps faltering on Newgrounds, which isn't full of stickfigures, so I took that to mean he just sees web-animations differently from, like, animated videodame sprites for some reason.)

And my biggest piece of evidence for this has always been: judging by ...

the map hanging on his wall

the fact that he launched the first virabot at the IP-sky

the fact that he sent his virabot swarm directly into web-portals open to user-dominated sites

the fact that never, not once, did we see Dark directing any of the virabots towards stick-cities

Dark had never planned on targeting stickfigures with the virabots.

And yet, when Chosen freaks out about it, he only imagines Dark targeting stickfigures with the virabots.

Now, the implications of this communication failure between Chosen and Dark are a whole 'nother essay in and of themselves, but all it means for now is that Chosen doesn't like it when stickfigures are hurt, and he doesn't want to be the one hurting them.

Chosen's one exception to this code-of-conduct, so far, seems to be Dark himself, from the present-day scene in The Flashback and onwards into The Showdown (and, if Dark survived The Second Coming's attack, presumably onwards into the next AvA main series episode). Because, in Chosen's eyes, Dark became a danger to stickfigures.

Chosen caused a lot of collateral damage on alanspc, in his attempts to exterminate the virus. It's possible that this was because the computer belonged to his former abuser, so he felt no need to make any efforts to preserve anything. But it's also possible that Chosen was simply of the mind that what gets destroyed doesn't matter, as long as the source of danger to other stickfigures is eliminated. (The episode's animation barely gives any attention to the color gang, during Chosen's battle, but you'll notice that until the virabot cobbles together an Adobe Animate mec for itself, Chosen did a pretty good job of keeping the virabot on the left side of the desktop, away from where the color gang were stuck. And then once the mec collapses, he keeps it up above them, within the top half of the desktop, once again far away from the color gang, who are unstuck by that point and could theoretically run across the taskbar.)

Dark's status as (in Chosen's mind) a danger to other stickfigures might've just overtaken his status as a stickfigure himself, as well as his status as Chosen's companion.

I'm not saying that Chosen was wrong for this. But I am saying that this proves his morals aren't as cut-and-dry as "don't hurt stickfigures" and "don't let stickfigures get hurt." Because, as AvA5 proves, it's possible for those two rules to conflict with each other.

And now, we come to the rocket org. We don't have an actual name for the enigmatic entities (or possibly singular entity) behind that mysterious rocket logo on the television set and the wanted poster, yet. So I'll be calling them "rocket org." for now.

Due to both of its appearances so far having been within a stick-city, I think it's fair to guess that rocket org. was started by, and is run by, stickfigures.

My theory about web-space exploration notwithstanding, as of now we don't know why rocket org. has connections to the user-dominated site YouTube, or why they are offering rewards for reported sightings of Chosen.

The simplest theory is that rocket org. wants to hunt Chosen down, either to kill him or detain him.

Again, there could be any number of reasons why rocket org. wants to do this. It could be because Chosen hails from beyond the IP-sky barrier. It could be because they saw The Showdown on YouTube; and with Dark seemingly dead, and Orange having returned to the computer, Chosen is a loose end for them to do something about. It could be because rocket org. has stickfigures from Stickpage among its ranks, and they either want revenge or want to contain someone they see as a threat.

But why rocket org. wants Chosen isn't the point of this essay. The point is...how might Chosen respond, to being hunted down by stickfigures, potentially under threat of capture or death?

Chosen doesn't want to hurt stickfigures. But I highly doubt he would concede to being imprisoned once more, no matter who is doing the imprisoning. And something tells me that Chosen wouldn't see himself as a danger to other stickfigures.

And he's already proven that he will make exceptions to his rules.

And it's already been hinted that collateral damage is irrelevant to him, as long as the danger opposing him is handled.

Fear of captivity is not an evil motive. Freedom is not an evil goal.

But what might Chosen be willing to do, to stay out of enemy hands?

I think that, as a character, Chosen has the potential to be a very compelling take on a sympathetic antagonist. And not because of his backstory, but because of how his own choices have shaped him.

[herdreamywasteland]

Here for you

This is a continuation of "With you, it's not so bad", on ao3. There's more to this, but I wanted to post this beforehand. this can be read by itself or you can go read the story (I'll include the link). This won't be posted on ao3 as it's a portion of a larger work, which will be posted eventually.

I'm jj_whats_her_face on a03, here's the link to the first work. TW!!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/48760078

Note: I do not allow my works to be copied to another site or translated without permission. Please message me if you would like to translate or podfic my work. I don't own dungeons and daddies, but if I did, y'all would hate me. Comments and Reblogs are adored, constructive criticism is allowed, and hate or negativity will be swiftly and efficiently dealt with.

“I took a pregnancy test.”

Taylor stares at his best friend, her face wet with mascara and tears. He steps away from the door and she walks in. Scary stands there, looking like anyone but herself. She’s wearing a loose shirt and baggy sweatpants. Her hair is piled on her head, a mess of tangles.

“What’d it say?” He whispers, afraid of the answer.

Scary stares. She doesn’t need to say anything. He knows the answer.

“We’ll figure this out.” Taylor shuts the door, the quaver in his voice betraying his fear. 

“Will we?” Her voice is reedy and scared.

“Yeah, we will.” 

Scary looks at him, her dark eyes drilling into his. He stares back, waiting for her to move. To say anything. To just give him something to work with.

“Her name is Lucy.”

“Her?”

Scary nods, looking down. “I can just feel it.”

“Good to know.”

Scary glances back at him before walking to the stairs. She climbs them, Taylor limping after her. He follows her lead into his bedroom, sitting on the bed. She closes his door and sits heavily on the floor in front of him.

Wordlessly, Taylor begins to comb through her hair with his fingers. He works away at the knots, untangling them. 

“Scary?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you-” He clears his throat, not sure how to say this. “Are you sure you want to keep it?” Taylor cringes at how crude it sounds.

“No.”

He opens his mouth to ask what she means, but Scary sniffles and continues speaking.

“I don’t want her. I hate that she exists. But fuck, it’s not her fault. She didn’t decide anything. And I can’t hurt Lucy like that. I can’t kill her for something she didn’t do.” Scary looks up at him, tears flowing down her cheeks. 

Taylor can feel his eyes burning, he wants to cry too. But he can’t. He has to be strong for Scary. She needs him to be strong.

Scary stands and turns to face him. He looks up at her, not used to her being taller. She steps closer to him, her hips between his knees. 

Taylor places his hands on her waist, simply resting them there. Slowly, she sets her hands on his shoulders. They stand together, neither daring to move or speak. 

Carefully, Scary tangles her right hand in his hair, letting the soft strands slide through her fingers. She takes her left hand and reaches down to his right, lifting it off her waist. She moves it to her belly, right below the waistband of her pants. 

Taylor follows her movement, looking at where his wrist is held in her hand. He brushes his thumb along the seam of her sweats, the hand on her waist tightening. Scary tugs Taylor’s hair, making him look up at her.

She looks so broken, so beautiful, right now. Her hair is a tousled mess, making a halo around her face. Her cheeks are streaked with black, mascara long gone from her eyelashes. Her nose is red, her eyes glassy and scared. 

He is only a man, but she is a goddess. 

As he watches, she moves his hand from her stomach to her face, pressing it against her. She nuzzles it, her breath dancing along his palm. She lets go of his wrist, her hand falling to the side of his neck, resting against his skin. 

“Will it be okay?” Scary’s voice shakes and Taylor can feel her hand tighten in his hair.

“I… I don’t know.” He stares into her eyes. God, she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. Even like this. 

“Thank you.” Scary whispers, her lips barely moving. 

“For what?” Taylor hasn’t done anything worth thanking. He hasn’t done anything.

“Being honest.” She huffs a sad sort of laugh, the corner of her mouth twitching. 

He moves his hand from her face to her hip, pulling her closer. She twists her other hand in his hair, gently cupping his head. Taylor leans forward and presses his head to her chest.

Scary sighs, pushing his head closer to her breast. It’s something real. He knows that’s what she needs. He wraps his arms around her, breathing in her scent. 

She smells like the air before a thunderstorm, like fireworks at midnight, like sweetgrass in summer. Scary smells like life.

Her arms wrap around his head, resting on his shoulders. He shudders, feeling the way her heart slows as she settles against him. It’s odd, with his head to her chest, as though Taylor is the one being comforted. But this is what she needs, and he is more than willing to provide it.

“Scary?” His voice is muffled against her body, muffled by the tears threatening to escape his eyes. Why is he crying? He doesn’t know.

“Taylor?” Her voice makes his heart ache. It’s so beautiful, so broken.

“I- I, uh,” He’s not sure how to say it.

“Hmm?” 

Taylor feels more than hears her hum, buzzing against his face. God, he loves her. She’s his best friend, how could he not? Maybe Scary’s more than a friend, but he’s not going to think about that now. She doesn’t need him thinking that. She just needs him.

She needs him.

“No matter what happens,” His voice catches in his throat, stuck on unshed tears. 

“Yeah?” Scary’s voice is tight with nerves or maybe tears or anger. He doesn’t know.

“I’m yours, okay? I’ve got you.” Taylor’s voice is a quiet rasp, but he can feel her chest hitch with her next inhale.

He pulls away from her, looking up into her eyes. She’s crying again, but this time, they might be good tears.

“Thank you.” She presses her lips to his forehead and he closes his eyes as she does. 

Taylor scoots further back, tugging her onto the bed with him. He lays down, pulling her head to his chest. 

She curls into herself, her chest heaving. A broken wail escapes Scary, jagged with pain. He cries too, sobbing for her and her baby. God, her baby. Scary doesn’t deserve this. 

He holds her, murmuring into her hair, kissing her face. He rocks her as best he can, tangling his legs with hers, pressing her body to his. 

He holds her because he can’t kill the man that hurt her. 

He holds her because he can’t fix everything.

Taylor holds her because he doesn’t know what else he can do.

[riding-the-sunset-bird]

Hi! This may be a silly question but is there any easy way to change the code in game to alter the "love/crush/indifferent" etc etc meter while using the same files (as to not replay the whole game from step 1)?? Most of the times when replaying the game i don't want to change my answers or repeat any moments in a separate file but just change the meter so i can romance baxter and not cove as an example. Sorry if this is worded strangely i can ask again, and thank you for all you do!!

I think I understand, no worries! And yes, I can absolutely help you~

(by the way, prepare for me to make every possible assumption on what your save file may or may not be, as I tried to prep for most situations)

Firstly, you'll need a save file editor. There are a couple of online ones (here, here, and here), then an offline one I found. In my experimentation, this online one is the easiest to use and most consistently comprehensible, so I'll be using that. I do have another method that could be used offline, but that will be a post for the future.

I'm going to use your example as a reference. We'll say that I have a save file where my MC confessed to Cove in Step 2 (so they're dating), but I've changed my mind and now I want my MC to not be crushing on nor dating Cove anymore, with the reverse being true for Baxter.

Just in case, I'll add extra factors on the chance that your save might not be at the exact start of Step 3 (example being if you've passed the introduction with Baxter and chosen "Fond" instead of "Crush"). I suppose one could also use this for a headcanon of the MC actually breaking up with Cove and then pursuing Baxter.

(Obviously make sure you backup your save file, by the way, for safety.)

Anyway! After opening the site, we're going to load our save file by clicking "Upload" and then choosing the save file you want to edit.

If you're using the offline program instead, then uncheck both boxes below and then hit "Load Ren'Py Save":

A ton of variables are going to pop up, but don't worry! I'm going to walk you through it.

We'll start with the idea of a save file that begins right after the Step 3 Cove Creator (so right as the in-between narration background appears).

If your MC confessed to Cove in Step 2 and you are at the in-between of Step 3 before anything has really happened, then all you have to do is look for a Boolean variable titled, "step2_confession_cove"

For the online version, you'll want to find the variable with "store." at the start for any of the variables I discuss, but the offline won't have that (so I'll be putting store. in parenthesis when mentioning variables) and you'll simply find two variables with the exact same names, so you'll just have to change both.

Set the value from True to False. This is to prevent the game from remembering such details and assuming that the MC has been dating Cove. However, if your save is further down Step 3 to where the game has already confirmed that the MC and Cove are dating (during the cell phone conversation with Lee), then you'll want to look for "(store.)relationship_cove" and make sure that value is set to False.

Depending on whether the MC is at Love with Cove or Crush, you might have to change the interest variable as well. Search for an Integer/Number "(store.)interest" variable.

This is how the MC feels towards Cove. 1 is Indifferent, 2 is Fond, 3 is Crush, 4 is Love. If you're at Love and haven't met Baxter yet in the save, you'll have to turn the value down to at least 3 (4 locks you out of crushing on Baxter).

The Baxter equivalent is "(store.)baxter_interest" and the number system works the same. You can't be at Love with Baxter in Step 3 so you'll have to settle at 3 for Crush, though you'll only have to worry about editing it at all if you've already passed the point in the save file of meeting him and choosing your interest level.

Other Boolean variables I can think of are "(store.)crush_step_3" or "(store.)love_step_3" depending on what the MC's interest in Cove was (being at Love will actually set both of them to True). Baxter's version is simply "(store.)baxter_crush".

There are actually many variables to Cove specifically because the game will keep track of how the relationship has progressed throughout all steps.

For example, "(store.)crush_step_2" is a variable noting that the MC had a crush on Cove in Step 2, and it will calculate during Step 3 how the relationship has progressed until then, so if the MC went from Fond in Step 1 to Crush in Step 2 and then to Love in Step 3, a variable called "(store.)fond_crush_love_step_3" will be set to True.

I'm going to set it so that my MC has simply always been friends with Cove (you can change such things accordingly if you'd prefer to keep the crush and just not have the MC act on it), so I'll make sure "(store.)fond_step_1" is True and "(store.)crush_step_1" isn't, that all "(store.)crush_step_2", "(store.)crush_step_3", and "(store.)love_step_3" variables and variations are set to False, as well as that "(store.)fond_step_2", "(store.)fond_fond_step_2", "(store.)fond_step_3", "(store.)fond_fond_step_3", and "(store.)fond_fond_fond_step_3" are set to True.

If somehow all you have is a save that has passed Sightseeing without having dated Baxter and you want your MC to do so, then search "(store.)baxter_dating_s3" and set it to True. If you want your MC dancing with Baxter in Soiree to be part of the canon but it didn't happen in your actual save file, then look up "(store.)soiree_dancing" and "(store.)soiree_dance_stranger_accepted" (plus "(store.)baxter_dlc_met_at_soiree" if the save you're editing is after Miranda suggests getting chow mein in the Step 3 intro) and set the values to True.

So to recap/simplify...

On disabling a relationship with Step 3 Cove:

if the MC confessed to Cove in Step 2

set "(store.)step_2_confession_cove" to False

if the MC has already gotten into a relationship with Cove

set "(store.)relationship_cove" and any variations to False

if the MC is at Love with Cove or the player simply wants to lower him off of Crush

change "(store.)interest" (1 for Indifferent, 2 for Fond, or 3 for Crush)

change all "(store.)love_step_3" variations to False; other changes depend on what how you want the MC's relationship with Cove to have developed (setting the one you want to True and the ones you don't to False), such as:

(going to use screenshots from the offline version here because they're more compressed)

○ "(store.)[MC's S1 interest]_step_1" / "(store.)[MC's S2 interest]_step_2" / "(store.)[MC's S3 interest]_step_3"

○ "(store.)[MC's S1 interest]_[MC's S2 interest]_step_2"

○ "(store.)[MC's S2 interest]_[MC's S3 interest]_step_3"

○ "(store.)[MC's S1 interest]_[MC's S2 interest]_[MC's S3 interest]_step_3"

(yes, the spelling of "indiff" sometimes has an extra or one less "f"; I didn't do that, it's just an error in the variable's spelling)

And then on changing things to romance Baxter...

if the MC has already met Baxter and missed out on their chance to set their interest in him to Crush (such as if Cove had been set to Love)

set "(store.)baxter_interest" to 3

set "(store.)baxter_crush" to True

if the player wants their MC to have danced with Baxter in Soiree but they didn't in the actual save file

set "(store.)soiree_dancing" to True

set "(store.)soiree_dance_stranger_accepted" to True

set "(store.)baxter_dlc_met_at_soiree" to True (only required if the save file is past the point where Miranda talks about Chinese food in the Step 3 intro)

if the save file is past Sightseeing and the player missed out on their MC dating Baxter

set "(store.)baxter_dating_s3" to True

And I think that's all of it. There may be variables I'm missing and I'll update things if so but those are the major ones.

It sounds like a lot of work/variables to change but at least on my test file (where my MC confessed to Cove in Step 2, went Fond->Crush->Love from Step 1 to 2 to 3, then the save file stopped at the very start of the in-between narration), I don't think it was too bad. These were the values I changed:

If you're using the online version, then you can just hit "Download" to get the file and replace your old save with it. If you're using the offline version, then you'll have to hit "Apply Changes" which will overwrite the save file you put in.

Hopefully that wasn't too overwhelming. There are just a lot of variables keeping track of Cove's relationship with the player.

[the-clay-quarters]

Enter the Clay Quarters, you're welcome among them.

Hi! I'm Toffee, I'm 20 and use he/they. This is a sideblog for Fallen London because the special interest has hit me like a truck and I live here now I guess.

Main blog is @toffee-rambles, art blog is @toffee-biscuits, and for other sites I have a carrd.

Asks and dms are open if you want to chat! Keep in mind that I'm slow and also in europe, so it might take a bit for a reply. I use tone indicators when I think it's necessary but feel free to ask for clarification.

I also talk about my ocs! A lot! So here's some basics about them and links to their stuff.

- Flint Silverstein: My main account! A clay man pretending to be human who I adore to pieces. Standoffish and monotone but dependable. Ambition is heart's desire, closest to revs, lives out by the observatory to avoid everyone. [he/him] --- Reference, Tag, Ingame profile, Toyhouse

- Cordelia/Theodore Pembroke: Part high society part adrenaline junkie, pretends to be a married couple but is actually just one genderfluid mess. Somewhat chaotic and a menace, not afraid to cause a scene to have some fun, ADHD vibes. Ambition is bag a legend, closest to society, lives above her own tailor shop, very busy guy. [she/he] --- Reference, Tag, Ingame profile, Toyhouse

- Vincent Bell: Also occasionally known as Vícenç Creuer Libèl·lula, guy who came to the neath for research and has not been having a good time since. High anxiety and a people pleaser, but eager to talk about their research with bugs or topics like language and surface politics. Ambition is light fingers, lives in a small flat near the university. [they/them] --- Reference, Tag, Ingame profile, Toyhouse

Tag list below the cut- these will probably change but hopefully I'll remember to update this post oops

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

Tags for filtering - Suggestive: self explanatory, I'm an adult 👍 - Long post: simply my personal vendetta against mile long posts carried over from main (/lh) - FL crit: unsure if I'll actually end up complaining much but putting this here just in case

Post types: - My art / Fic: what it says on the tin! I make things sometimes :D - Originals / Chatter / Asks: various degrees of actual content - Reblog game / Ask game: "reblog and answer in the tags" and ask prompt list type posts - Officially noticed: mostly for my own amusement, posts that have been reblogged by FBG

Reference tags, generally restricted to things between 1850-1920: - Historical art: includes writing, sculpture, etc - Photography: photos and film - Fashion: clothes! mainly dresses - Items: all sorts of things, various bits and bobs - Reference: anything else that doesn't fit these

Content tags: - Sskies / Sseas / Motr: I've played/am playing these! - c: Curators: general masters/curators tag bcus I love them all - c: Manager: the manager of the royal bethlehem/may of the calendar council/This Fuckin Guy, I just think he's neat <3

[ficreadergirl]

Dangerous Inquiries (ch.15)

You sat there completely speechless. No words came to your lips. You were stunned. After a moment of silence you managed to stammer out a question. "How do you know that?" you asked. Both of them glanced at each other and then turned to look at you again. "Because… y'know. Bruce kind of helping Batman and we heard from him." Dick said slowly, unsure of what reaction you would have. You remained silent for a few seconds before turning your gaze back onto the table. "Are you sure about that?" you whispered brokenly. "We're pretty sure Y/n. I'm so sorry." Dick apologised earnestly. "So… my father was…" you said in disbelief, not being able to finish your sentence. Tears formed in your eyes. Dick put an arm around your shoulder and squeezed you tightly. "Y/N, we will find out the truth. Never doubt that. Okay?" he said soothingly. "It's true isn't it then?" you said shakily. "My father did… something he shouldn't done." You felt Dick tense up beside you as though trying not to cry. "We're going to find out everything." Dick said quietly. You could tell how much pain he was going through. "Okay." you said quietly. "Look, if you ever feel unsafe or upset, you can always stay with us. Just stay away from Jason and that white haired woman. Please." Kory pleaded. "Thank you both." you said softly. They gave you a sad smile in response. You stood up and hugged them both. "We love you sweetie." Dick whispered before letting go of you. "Love you guys too." you replied, giving each one a tight hug again. You were tired, emotionally and physically drained. "Guys I'm really tired." you mumbled weakly. They nodded in understanding. "Alright honey, we'll see you tomorrow." Kory told you warmly. You smiled and waved goodbye at them both. As soon as the door had been shut, tears began falling down your face. You sobbed into your hands desperately. What were you gonna do now? You thought to yourself, shaking with fear.

You stood up, dried your tears and went into your room. You picked up your laptop and began browsing various online sites. One caught your eye. A site where people post stories and posts articles related to Gotham's murders and serial cases. You were looking for Red Hood's cases, hoping to find evidence to link them to your father's murder. You found nothing else but victim's victims curses on the internet. "Damn!" you exclaimed. You slammed the laptop closed angrily, causing several pictures to fall onto the floor and shatter. "Shit!" you cursed under your breath, quickly picking up the pictures, putting them back together and walking over to the window and looking outside. You were beginning to feel like there was no hope for your father's innocence. Not anymore. He may have been a criminal, but he was still your father. You closed your eyes tightly and took a deep breath. You sighed deeply and opened your eyes. You wanted to calm down, but this was not getting any easier. Your emotions had been running high for so long now. You wanted to call Jason and hear him tell you Red Hood wasn't the murderer. You wanted to stop seeing those images in your head. After calming yourself down you decided to call him. You needed to talk to someone. Your finger hovered over the number before finally pressing the call button. It rang once before Jason picked it up. "Y/n-" he started but you interrupted him. "Hey Jason. That white haired woman-" you started to say. "I'm at your door Y/n. Could you open it?" Jason cut you off. "Wait! Where are you?" you questioned.

"In front of your house right now." he answered simply. "Oh okay. Yeah I'll come let you in." you responded. You hung up the phone and made your way towards the door. Once you opened the door, you noticed Jason standing in front of your door. "What happened?" you asked confused. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay." he answered. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? Is something happening?" you asked concerned. Jason hesitated for a second before responding. "Can we talk inside?" he requested. You looked at him, wondering why he sounded so nervous. "Yeah, sure." you answered hesitantly. You stepped aside and allowed him to enter first. He followed you into your living room and closed the door behind him. He stood in the middle of the living room for a minute. "Is everything alright? Is there something you need to tell me?" you asked him carefully. He stayed quiet for a while as he looked around your apartment, searching for something. "Could you bring me water please?" he finally asked, glancing over at you. You walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. You handed him it. "Thanks." he replied softly. He drank some water while you started talking. "You remember that white haired woman I told you about. Right?" you asked him. He nodded as you continued, "Well, I learned that she is work-". You were cut off abruptly by Jason's lips against yours, effectively shutting you up. Your eyes widened slightly but you recovered quickly. When he pulled away you were blushing madly and couldn't form any words.

"Jason… What-" you began confused. "Y/n I need to explain myself." he interrupted you gently. Your heart skipped a beat. "Go ahead." you breathed. He stared at you intently for another moment before continuing. "I gotta go." he stated suddenly heading for the door. You stood frozen watching as he disappeared. Your mind was spinning trying to process what just happened. Had it just really happened? Did Jason Todd just kiss you? Your cheeks burned brighter red as more questions filled your mind. Did you just let him kiss you? Was that okay? What should I do now? Why am I even thinking about this stuff right now? you wondered frantically. You took a deep breath and tried to push all thoughts out of your mind as you headed towards your bedroom. You needed to rest now and think about it later.

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[squish--squash]

Upon every post I see of the new Tumblr changes, the replies and reblogs are filled with people HATING them, WANTING them to not be implemented, and WARNING how much of a bad idea it's going to be. But staff isn't listening.

But we can try to do something about this, but only if we're coordinated and smart.

the main reason this seems to be happening is to go with the status quo of all the other social medias out there (which makes me feel sick) and because as the CEO said (according to this post from a live session- I highly recommend reading it) tumblr is in the red financially, and needs more financial support.

What the staff fails to realize though is that once these changes are made, they'll go even further in the red from users leaving.

I'm not sure if it'll work, but us as the userbase can put our collective foot down about this, even while our screams of uproar and warnings fall upon deaf ears.

First thing anyone with a phone can do is give the app a 1-star rating and explain why, specifically about the upcoming features and how the previous updates are fucking up things too (there's a 500 character word limit unfortunately, but a lot can still be said under that constraint). People have started to do this, judging by the most recent stream of ratings, but there are over 3 million reviews already, so unless we want to show how mad we are about this by changing our reviews to a 1-star, it's going to stay up.

Second thing is to stop buying stuff from Tumblr. Getting ads? Ad-blocker (unless you're on the app, I wish there was a way to get an ad-blocker on the app; however, you can download firefox on your PHONE and run the website on there with an ad-blocker, so I suggest trying that out). Stop buying checkmarks. Don't buy anything from the shops. Money talks, especially when the CEO of Tumblr is in the red.

Third thing, and the hardest to set up, would be to set an example of what Tumblr's user traffic is going to look like if the changes roll through by logging out and staying off tumblr. This will be hard for people who mainly use this site as their main social media (like me), but it's possible. Watch movies or tend to hobbies. Visit other social medias if you feel like you need to. Go outside and sit in the sun for a little bit. The most impactful form of this would be to stage an organized log-out, but there's just way too many users for something like this to be scheduled, but there's a saying about how something small can pile up and snowball into something massive.

All we want as the users are simple things. We want more accessibility features for our disabled friends instead of having them be screwed over with every new update; we want to maintain what makes this place so special and different from all the other social medias; we want to be able to see and communicate with others, so curate our own unique experiences without having an algorithm try and shove things down our throats like baby birds. And for the financial part of it all, instead of locking things behind paywalls, open donations. Sites like Wikipedia and Archive of our Own are two successful and large sites that are run off of donations. People are more willing to simply donate to a site that runs zero ads than to buy things like the ability to not see ads or to have some sort of custom domain.

I really don't want to leave Tumblr. It's been my primary (and basically my only) social media since I discovered it in 2016. But I'll leave. And I know for a fact a lot of people agree with that settlement

[singular-yike]

Could you break down Sukune's style of speech a bit for me, gyah?

Ooh, that'sh gonna be a tough one nyuu... Still, I'll do my best~!

Sukune's Speech Patterns

So, Sukune is known to have a very peculiar style of speech, which is quite tough, if not straight-up impossible, to translate into English.

So if you want a breakdown of how their speech works in English, I honestly can't tell you, especially since every translator kinda has their own way to go about it.

In-universe, they apparently invented this style of speech to be more creative, so their verbal oddities are deliberate rather than originating from some single type of dialect.

Nevertheless, there is a vague sense of order in their speech, and we might be able to glean where JynX got some of these ideas from.

I'll be again borrowing heavily from Naoi Ikumo's pixiv post where they analyse Sukune's speech themself, mostly I'll be adding on how we tend to deal with these in translation.

Changes at the end of sentences

Sukune is particularly known for adding "nya", "nyo", "(da)gyah" and other odd phrases to the end of their sentences.

I can't claim to have found them all, since I haven't scrubbed through every line of Sukune dialogue myself, but here are a few notable ones off the top of my head:

These are often used instead of other sounds commonly found at the end of Japanese sentences:

"na" (な) is often replaced with "nya" (にゃ)

バカ基準にしてはよく知ってるだにゃ！ For an idiot y'sure know a lot, nyah!

When lengthed as "naa" (なー) it's replaced as "nyaa" (にゃー), often rendered as "nyah" in the translation

もしかして人間だったのかにゃー？ Is that a human, nyah?

"yo" (よ) is often replaced with "nyo" (にょ)

最近ファンが増えてきて楽しいにょ〜 I'm so happy that I've been gettin' more fans lately, nyo~

"da" (だ), in the sense as a casual form of "desu" (です) is often followed by "gyaa" (ぎゃー) as well, which you might recognise as the famous "gyah"

これが儀式場だって言うんだから驚きだぎゃよね Pretty shurprising that they're callin' this thing'a ritual site, gyah.

These give a vague sense of the Nagoya dialect, not even spoken much in Nagoya these days outside of the elderly. Additionally, saying "nyaa" at the end of sentences has been observed in the Kochi and Tottori Prefectures.

"chuu" (っちゅー) at the end of sentences

栓抜き投げるっちゅーー！！！ I'll throw a bottle opener at'chaaaa!!

Seen in the Tosa dialect (土佐弁), it is used in lieu of "～shiteiru" (～している), however, Sukune's usage does deviate from this.

When it comes to translating these, it's a bit of a 50/50 coin toss between just leaving them as is at the end of sentences or simply omitting them, leaving the quirkiness of Sukune's speech to other changes instead.

Second-person pronouns "omyaa" and "omyaa-san"

Every now and then, Sukune uses two very peculiar second-person pronouns to refer to whoever they're talking to: "omyaa" (おみゃー) and "omyaa-san" (おみゃーさん)

These are from the Nagoya dialect of Japanese, most often used by the elderly (For more on these, see this post).

These are very often translated as "ya" or "yah", or "yer", etc. Often these "alternate you's" are used regardless of whether Sukune has used "omyaa/omyaa-san" or not, to "make up" for the other verbal traits we couldn't bring over.

Overall Summary

While Sukune's speech appears to borrow bits and pieces of various dialects when shaking up their speech, they don't really use them under the same grammatical rules that their original dialect uses.

Notably, Sukune doesn't use dialect-specific phrases or nouns either, perhaps an attempt by JynX to keep the dialogue universally comprehensible despite the quirks.

Overall, it definitely gives the vibe of a personal, invented quirk rather than an inherited accent, so it could be said that no one but Sukune really knows the rules under which it works, if there are any at all.

In the English translation, we tend to get this quirky speech across by having a more "relaxed, slurred" (I dunno if this is the right description) quality to Sukune's speech.

Like using the "sh" (/ʃ/) sound instead of the /s/ sound, like "that'sh" instead of "that's", or using more contractions, like "m'name's" instead of "my name is" and "doin'" instead of "doing".

This combined with sometimes leaving in the gyah's and nyo's at the end of sentences give us the signature Sukune speech that we're all used to reading!

I'll be completely honest most Sukune translations weren't done by me and I'm certainly not the best at it, so I kinda had to reverse-engineer the quirks in English as well. I hope I got those right~

Being native in neither English nor Japanese I do worry if this ended up sitting awkwardly between explaining neither side sufficiently, but I think it works, so I hope you all can get it as well :)