#i'm hearing abt the layout changes

[there-is-purpose-after-all]

I still don't have much time and energy to be fully on Tumblr and I've been only using it from my phone for the last few days and now i'm scared to look at the desktop version :c

[irrealisms]

hi! yr probably not lookin for asks anymore, but. what's your lifesteal elevator pitch? i know absolutely nothing abt it or any of the folks on the server except the vague things i've absorbed frm reading yr analysis as it crosses my dash, but it compels me, etc.+ also merry christmas! <33 🎄🌟

good news: i am always looking for asks

bad news: my parents DID go to sleep and i was able to wrap presents and put them beneath the tree and so on, so i wasn't going to do more asks tonight

good news again: i actually already have a lifesteal pitch. in a google doc. bc i'm normal

the pitch does assume you're basically already into mcrp and just curious about lifesteal in specific BUT we went to dsmp together so this works out

I really love shitty little tryhards causing problems via impressive feats of minecraft, and lifesteal is full of those. if you like people being good at minecraft, I really recommend lifesteal--in s2, clownpierce was top 50 worldwide at crystal pvp, and now he's washed and in s6 there are 2-3 (depending on who you ask) lifestealers who are better than him at pvp (admittedly maybe not at crystal); in s4, there's some stuff that's impressive in ~vanilla (eg parrot wins a 1v1 while on one heart) and some stuff that's impressive through exploits/social stuff (eg a group of people use a glitch + social engineering to get /op and prove to mojang that the glitch is a security issue that needs patched). every season is like this! lifestealers have backdoored the server 3 seasons in a row (s3-5). for a more recent weird Lifestealer Behavior, rekrap and jumper filled in every end portal room and built new fake ones to make it look like the world glitched and generated without them. lifesteal is weird and constantly coming up with new weird yet impressive things to do. a lot of stuff that's currently banned on lifesteal (F3+A, pie ray) are things i only learned were possible from lifesteal. (on the flip side i'd say: if you are not into shitty little tryhards making weird impressive clickbait, you probably won't like lifesteal, although you may still like hearing about it from time to time.)

related to them being shitty little tryhards causing problems: the rules are...more of a suggestion. getting around the rules, and hiding from the server owner and/or other players that you're doing so, is often part of the fun of lifesteal! (see also the thing where i mentioned that it's been backdoored three seasons in a row.) if that's intriguing: check it out. if not: once again, you have been warned.

lifesteal absolutely has lore and some people roleplay on it, there is nonzero c/cc divide, but it's more like traffic life than, say, late dsmp--it's fully improv, not scripted, and even more than traffic life it is genuinely adversarial. you can sometimes be confident that someone is in character but you can never be sure if someone is out of character, on lifesteal-- things like "going to someone's house irl to turn off their computer" or "lying about your homework/school/sleep schedule" or "changing your entire discord layout so that when you DM someone they think you're someone else" or "claiming you need their footage of an event for your video when actually you just want to see where their spawn point is" are all things that have been done on lifesteal that are considered fair game! everything on lifesteal is real; sometimes this goes well, sometimes it doesn't, but both are interesting to see imo because they are real

partially for this reason and partially for other reasons, lifesteal is fascinating to me as a piece of unique storytelling? a lot of mcyt is doing interesting things with its medium and being improv, lifesteal's not fully unique in that, but definitely if you like that you might like lifesteal. along with the improv, there's the fact that many lifestealers lie about what actually happened in their videos (comparing different videos with the vods, or in some cases with "what people say in various vods" when events weren't streamed, gives some fascinating insights imo--how do people frame their stories? how honest are they? what do they blatantly lie about, what do they gloss over or omit, what do they include in full? who, if anyone, do they see as the heroes or villains? whose videos agree with each other, and whose present a totally different story?), and the fact that conflict about "where do we want the story to go next, what do we think would be an interesting video/the best ending" is often the driving motive for in-character wars and conflicts! if you're interested at all in lifesteal and storytelling, check out barrier blocks part 2 by @mering/@myrmica, which is a deep dive on eclipse federation and the end of lifesteal s4 (those are my special guys); it dips into some academic game studies and it's really, really good. i genuinely cannot recommend it highly enough. (part one is also real good for non-lifesteal-specific discussion of mcrp!)

if you want a more specific plot summary (esp of s4) and/or "how do i actually, like, watch this" (of any seasons): hmu! but that's my pitch. also, read barrier blocks

[sleepingfancies]

TELL ME ABOUT DEATHBRINGERS!!!!<3<3<3<3!! how are there no stars???? what's the giant fucked up wall (or gate? you've mentioned it b4 but I forgor) ??? what role do ur characters play in the Things That Are Happening, or do they live in the aftermath? I fuckign love hearing about deathbringers it is so cool

TEEHEE ^-^ (thank u sm for asking i'm about to type an ungodly amount im sorry)

So about the stars >=) there is a sun and people in the world Assume there May Have Been more like it in the past!! But the sun is to their world what one random dragon would be to us, really; it's there, and no one can deny Its Nature, but people are a bit confounded or skeptical about it. The absence of light at night has largely been blamed on vampires as something they achieved (incorrect, though they do benefit from only having one sun-source to worry about). But there's no more proof for that theory than there is the concept other stars ever existed at all :3

What actually happened doesn't have any definitive documentation in canon anymore!! It was all intentionally destroyed by the involved parties and the main characters never fully learn the big picture <3 but essentially. An extremely long time ago and far beyond living memory, some particularly ambitious individuals decided to Bring Down and Swallow stars for their power ^_^ the resulting conflict was apocalyptic but ultimately the stars lost, and so there are no stars anymore =) unless

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The giant fucked up wall could refer to three things and I'm insane so I will tell u abt them all ^-^

The titular City of Gears has many a fucked up wall !! It was built into a mountain and meant to be a sanctuary for vampires, away from the sun. But the original architect wanted to ensure the vampires were safe from even the most immortal threats (teehee!!), so he designed the city as a labyrinth with hundreds of walls that could rotate, appear and disappear, and raise and lower; this on top of stationary walls, as well. The idea was that the labyrinth's pattern would never be the same twice and change once a month, thus making it impossible for an immortal threat to spend centuries memorizing the city's layout for an attack.

Blynnfell's Crown isn't necessarily fucked up and crazy insane like the City of Gears' rotating labyrinth but it is Different !! Blynnfell is the capital of the country and sits on the southeast coast, sort of boxed in by the continental-long Blackcrest River and the sea ^-^ it's surrounded by enormous and thick as hell jagged shards of stoneglass (in our world we call it alexandrite). Its primary purpose is to absorb light reflecting off the ocean + manage the city's light pollution, but it's almost as hard as diamond, so it makes for excellent defense as well. The city is always surrounded by a very colorful glow, it's rather pretty =)

The Spire isn't technically a wall itself but it is fucked up <3 it's the seat of the Lovely Prince (the title of the current and singular god). It's been heavily enchanted and covered in illusions; the Lovely Prince doesn't actually maintain it well, so it's a rather derelict mess in reality, but the illusion projects an opulent veneer. The illusion persists as long as the Lovely Prince is around to maintain it :3

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The characters ougghghghgaaaaa the characters >=) I am sure u have heard me mention all of them at some point but the core four are Daciana Cel Tradat (vampire), Mortimer Crackbone (human), Vidar Rothmoor (fey), and Kadija Ekunye (human). The four of them get together to kill the Lovely Prince ^-^ I won't get TOO into book 2 shenanigans here just bc this is already soooo long SJDHGDSG

Daciana is the head of the group and the duology's deuteragonist. She personally assembles the gang to kill the Lovely Prince, she plans out how to travel to the Spire without drawing attention, she refuses to stop until she completes her goal, and she goes against the vampiric Grand Coven's warnings to do it. Daciana is a very "I will do what I know must be done" kind of person, which does a lot for driving events both good and bad <3

Mortimer is the soul of the group and the duology's universal foil. He quite literally monitors and cares for the souls of the other three. He contains multitudes and is deeply understanding of other people's multitudes as well; his protectiveness and gentleness directly impact the end outcome. Mortimer also foils almost every single major character; he represents both someone's doomed villain and someone else's redeemed hero.

Vidar is the body of the group and the duology's antihero. He is a creature of indulgence, and indulge he does!! His hunger and consumption have enormous ramifications on the plot, especially leading into the second book. Vidar is also fundamentally selfish, cowardly, and mocks other people's feelings for a laugh. But still he takes the heaviest beating in defense of the other three, and consistently utilizes his advantages as a fey for their benefits.

Kadija is the heart of the group and the duology's protagonist. She can and will choose kindness every single time, even at great cost to herself, which shapes the entire overarching plot. Kadija is also the center of the conundrum and always was. She is the core of the story, the overlaid note in everyone else's arc, and she always was and always would be. Kadija's arc would have happened regardless of what the other three did or didn't do <3

[big-idiot-wolf-boys]

(speaking as someone who has only done a surface level exploration of the twilight series, specifically the movies and that's it, so apologies if this sounds dumb I'm just legit curious)

do the books effectively portray forks as the miniscule town that it actually is? or is it still just the kinda extremely watered down portrayal of rural life you see in the movie

like I think the goofiest shit in the movie is how the high school radiates profuse high school musical energy meanwhile forks in actuality suffers HARDCORE from shnizz like substance abuse, general prejudice and all other stupid happenings you'd hear from a staunchly conservative, fairly tiny isolated community.

this doesnt sound dumb at all! I have some Thoughts about Twilight’s portrayal of Forks, considering I grew up within driving distance of it, and have been there a couple of times.

Firstly, the books don’t accurately describe Fork’s layout or politics-- even a little bit lmfao. Theres no giant fucking river that runs through Fork’s residential area, like in the Cullen’s backyard. There’s a little creek in city limits and a slightly larger river outside of the town. You’re right, they’re pretty conservative there, a lot of Trump supporters, and the diversity in the population is laughable. The drug problem is pretty bad, and they don’t really have any resources to deal with it, and it doesn’t seem like they’re inclined to change that. Relative to Washington, Forks has a crime rate that is higher than 63% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes, according to neighborhoodscout.com.  For example, when a family of color went camping there recently, the mayor’s son and a group of other people terrorized them. I am almost 100% sure Smyer never once visited the area before she wrote about it.

Similarly, she obviously wrote about Port Angeles without ever having been there, as she makes it out to be a quaint tourist trap, when in reality, it’s got one of the highest crime rates in the country, is falling apart on one side, and completely gentrified on the other.

However, I always really liked the community vibe that she managed to capture, especially in the early chapters of the book. At the time that I first discovered the books, Forks’ population was abt a third of the size of my hometown, which I had always considered tiny, and she really did manage to capture the magic of feeling like a young kid, who’s family knows everyone. The people whispering about Bella on her first day, “Buttcrack Santa” and Cora the waitress chatting with her as if they hadn’t missed a beat since the last time she visited, and the high school kids all having something to say about her and being very goofy, felt super accurate to my experience in a small town.

[bluntforcefem]

ex and schezo for thh ask thing :o!!

thank you fall i am kissing you on your (not bald) head. under a cut because it got long

ex!!

favorite thing about them: he's KIND and GENTLE and FUNNY and even though he has the weight of the world on his shoulders and misses his family and wants to not be alone anymore he still never wants to put that on other people. fucking. selfless motherfucker who cares so goddamn much (shakes him so affectionately)

least favorite thing about them: i think he should be remembered now that there's a direct link to the edge of the universe. i don't like that they're just like yeah no they still forget once they leave. that's stupid. he deserves better

favorite line: “I was sad I was alone. I was sad I'd been forgotten. I know that's selfish... I wanted to ignore my feelings. But I couldn't stop it.”

brOTP: i have a lot of feelings abt tee & ex and basically everyone on the ss tetra & ex and squares + marle & ex but. BUT. hear me out. lemres and ex friends. lemres finds his way to the edge of the universe “don't worry about it”-style and shares both gossip and candy. ex is a very good listener (and when visitors get more frequent he has gossip of his own to share)

OTP: i don't ship ex with people

nOTP: besides the obvious gross shit i. can't think of anyone people ship him w lmao

random headcanon: he eventually learns how to manipulate the fabric of the edge of the universe and creates a house for him and any guests. since the house is an extension of himself, it's a little haunted, and changes day to day in layout and rooms (some stay relatively consistent, as anchors.) it responds to ex's emotions and will pretty easily, but can get a little twisty and complicated and spiral-y when ex is having a particularly rough time

unpopular opinion: idk i don't see people have thoughts on ex. i guess i think that ex and ess do have a chance at reconciling even if it'll never be the same or as close as it could've been which is something the games definitely don't like to hint at

song i associate with them: i have a whole ex playlist but particularly stipulation by go! child (who am i if i am not remembered)

favorite picture of them: point :)

schezo!!

favorite thing about them: whatever the FUCK is going on with this guy's backstory is so fun but also its so funny that he's just kind of fallen into being a bit of a comedy relief clown now

least favorite thing about them: his unintentional innuendos are funny but god do they make my entire body cringe sometimes

favorite line: this entire video is full of them

brOTP: arle and schezo are wlw/mlm hostility friendship solidarity and it's so important to me. i don't know a lot about witch but i also like her :] the besties. also schezo co-mentors klug w lemres

OTP: lemres and schezo should kiss

nOTP: gross shit obv. i don't know who people ship him with otherwise! i'm not in this fandom

random headcanon: here's an assortment—he's autistic, he does not want to move out of the cave but ends up doing so to move in with lemres after a close call with injury and sickness in the cold, one time ayashii possessed him for a while though a comedy of errors and they have not overcome THAT particular hurdle in their relationship, he likes to cook, he's very haunted. trans gay man.

unpopular opinion: i don't know what people in the fandom think of this guy. idk. i think he's pretty competent and i think if he wasn't stuck in the comedy genre he'd be pretty intimidating actually

song i associate with them: everything right is wrong again by they might be giants

favorite image of them: he's startled!