#it's even got an exploration move where you can just explore and do the puzzles without having to fight anything

[bestdressedchuuya]

Ok I wanna talk abt crow country cuz I just finished it tonight and I really loved it, major spoilers under the read more 👇

So as soon as we saw the first "guests" and how humanoid they were, I knew they used to be human, and I kinda figured that they were originally park guests who got blobbed up due to the crazy shit happening right underneath the park. And like... I did feel kinda bad at first shooting up monsters who used to be human but it's like eh, typical horror trope (I mean that's basically what zombies are) so I got used to it. BUT THEN you find out that they're humans from the future who are desperately trying to communicate a message to you despite the fact that their bodies and minds are completely falling apart and I dunno abt anybody else but that made me feel WAYYY worse about blasting their heads off. LIKE...they are using the last semblance of their human thoughts to desperately write out the year they came from in blood all over the place and it's so tragically falling on completely deaf ears!! BIG OOF. MY GUY EDWARD CROW FUCKED UP BIG TIME.

[joocomics]

1k followers celebration event — ⌞⌗ xdh drabble⌝

𓂃⠀𓈒 jiseok x fem!reader x jooyeon

genre: smut ( 18+ ) wc: 0.7

request: threesome w/ gaon and jooyeon + “we both really like you” + dry humping

contains: threesome, sub!reader, dry humping, dirty talk, pet names, light choking (f!rec), implied overstimulation, friends to ???

[ event masterlist | xdinary heroes masterlist ]

Jiseok’s hands are beneath your skirt, grasping your ass. His strong appetite for you grows every time your hips respond to his domineering touch by swaying forward.

“You know…” He sighs, staring back down at where you’re straddling his lap, gaining friction from his bulge that’s twitching inside his gray sweatpants. His brows knit together as if he’s in the middle of solving a puzzle. “We both really like you.”

The weight of his words make the air around you feel heavier, but then he looks up at you again and his face lights up. His boyish laugh, an alluring familiar tune, breaks the tension, and you can’t help but smile back.

He doesn’t see this as a problem, but rather as an opportunity that promises to make the night much more interesting, unforgettable; for everyone involved.

You hold your curious gaze on his face for a moment before shifting it to Jooyeon who’s sitting relaxed beside him. He's been watching you and Jiseok with an unreadable expression - unreadable to you, because you've only known him for a few weeks.

“I like both of you too,” you say, and your mouth remains open in awe from the greedy grip of Jiseok’s bold palms. His fingertips sink deeper in your flesh as he guides you back and forth simultaneously lifting his hips up for even better friction.

Or maybe he’s just trying to get a better idea of what it would be like to thrust his cock inside you.

“Well then,” Jooyeon murmurs with voice laced in amusement that sends a shiver down your spine. “We should figure out what to do about that. Have you ever had two guys play with you before?” He cocks his head to the side, keeping one hand over his crotch. “At the same time?”

His gaze on you is intense, but inviting; the longer you maintain eye contact with him, the stronger the warmth in your core becomes.

You wish he would’ve touched you by now. You wonder why he hasn’t made a move yet when he’s clearly interested just as much as you and Jiseok are. Is he waiting for something?

You catch Jiseok biting his lip with anticipation.

“No, never.” You admit quietly, moaning softly right after. Every next move you do against his boner pleases you undeniably more than all the previous ones, tempting you to rub your sweet spot through your panties even harder.

The two boys glance at each other; there’s excitement glimmering in their eyes, a sense of understanding and agreement too. They’re already plotting what to do to you without needing words; the mischievous smiles forming on their lips expose the dirty intentions they’ve had for you all along.

“She's a good girl, she'll tell us what she wants,” Jiseok grins; his gaze flickering between you and his friend who's finally moving closer, kneeling behind your back.

Jooyeon doesn’t do anything to interrupt the unrestful grinding between you and Jiseok. What he does is invite his hands beneath your shirt and attach his tongue to your neck.

Your head falls to the side, giving him perfect exposure to explore you through his salivating mouth. As his slim fingertips sneak into your bra, catching your nipples, Jiseok focuses on supporting your rhythm that makes his cock throb.

“Fuck, baby—“ He groans loudly, smacking your cheeks before squeezing them again as the stimulation overpowers his senses. He would've never imagined that the view of you melting in Jooyeon’s arms would turn him on so much. “Got me so fuckin’ hard for you. You feel it, doll?”

“Mhmm…” A single small sound is all you manage to give as an answer. You can feel the rush that's resulting from the mutual euphoria distracting you by pulsing low in your tummy.

A firm hand crawls up your chest and wraps around your throat. The next second, you feel Jooyeon’s hot breath escape his lips.

“I want you soaked, do you understand? I’m not gonna do anything for this pussy if it’s not dripping for me.”

You can sense the devilish smirk without having to look at him; its impact is lingering in the air, arousing and demanding as he speaks, just like the light pressure around your neck.

“Go on,” he signals you to keep up with Jiseok’s hips pushing against you. “Don't make me wait.”

! please do not repost, copy or translate my works

! please keep in mind that english is not my first language. i apologise for any mistakes i’ve might missed

[carbonbasedmatter]

there's sadly not a lot of content of them together but troy and annie's friendship is so important to me. I feel like we don't talk about them enough outside of general trobedison. they're two people who liked the idea of each other at some point for kind of superficial reasons but grew to appreciate each other as their own people and not just this goal of someone to "pull" the more they got to know each other. honestly glad that the writers dropped the ship cus it's so much better than it would've been if it was romantic. instead we got this cool thing where they both kind of helped each other grow into themselves and cope with changes.

the talk they had at the end of mixology certification reflecting on everything that happened after annie's sudden crisis about what she wanted to do with her life was so sweet.

ANNIE: ... I did it because I didn't wanna be me. I did it because i'm not sure who I am. Admit it- we went to school together for four years, and you didn't even know me.

TROY: Yeah, but I know you now, You're Annie...You like puzzles and little monsters on your pencil and some guy named Mark Ruffalo. You're a fierce competitor and a sore loser and you expect everybody to be better than who they are and you expect yourself to be better than everyone. Which is cool.

This was the episode where Troy realized that becoming an adult isn't this big, dramatic change and the people he looked up to were just as confused and imperfect as he was. He decides on his own that the grown up thing to do is to get everyone home safely rather than drinking. Here he's the one reassuring Annie, telling her how she does still have time to explore the world on her own terms, not knowing her well back then was his own loss.

I really like that about their dynamic how Troy kind of helps Annie realize she can just...relax and be herself without being judged, seeing her high school crush that she always wanted to impress casually building pillow forts and speaking in only movie references with his best friend. We don't see any immediate drastic changes in her that it seems unnatural but she's definitely more comfortable weird in her own way after moving into 303 (For ex her making Abed film missing lover clips for her)

I love how much they both care about abed too...in different ways. troy matches his weirdness, giving him an escape from what the rest of world thinks while annie shows him he CAN leave the world of simulations and scenarios, being different from someone but still having them respect you as a friend and build a close relationship with them letting him connect with the world. But they actually care about him letting him show a vulnerable side that he doesn't with a lot of the other members of the study group.

I also think the gay himbo+ smart but insane lesbian dynamic is v funny yea

anyways here are some silly photos that'll hopefully help get my point across

[meggannn]

Games I Played in 2024

I played a lot of games this year (finished 33 but dropped a few others) and thought I'd write up some quick reviews. Didn't include Metaphor Refantazio since I only played the demo of that (really enjoyed it though), but I did include Hades 2 since I put in 100 hours into it and I think it's pretty obvious I like it lmao. listed in chronological order of when I played it

Howl: Hate to start out with a game I dropped, but I was just really bad at the puzzles in this one lol. You play as a deaf woman who is immune to the "howling plague" which turns people into feral beasts, so she alone travels the land to help villagers and try to find a solution. Really neat concept, I was just bad at the grid-like puzzle system.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits: 3/5 Thematically it's maybe a story more appropriate for children, in that you play as a young woman charged with taking care of spirits who have moved on and looking after the environment, but the combat was hard enough that it felt more suited for adults, which made me kind of wonder what the target audience really was. Visually it's stunning, and it's got all the elements of a typical AAA game these days (collectibles, puzzles, zones to explore). I found the plot a little simple, like if Disney wrote the game and Pixar animated it, but the gameplay could occasionally get hard. I've never played a soulslike game before so I can't comment on whether it is appropriately challenging for a "soulslike," like some have debated.

Persona 5 Tactica: 4.5/5 I enjoyed this one! The gameplay feels like Fire Emblem strategy set in the Persona world, which can be a bit simple in the main story maps but gets increasingly complicated in the challenge/side maps, especially those where you have to accomplish an objective in one turn. The chibi art style might turn people off but this feels very at home with the main game's story and themes with two surprisingly fun new companions.

Venba: 4.5/5 What a surprise I like the cooking game about a family adjusting to life and dealing with Asian diaspora. I think it could've been longer because I was enjoying the recipes but it did make me cry. Phenomenal soundtrack too.

Eastshade: 3/5 The idea is that you're a painter and you can walk around an island and capture the scenery on your canvas to fulfill requests from locals. Unfortunately it felt more like Crafting: The Game which wasn't really what I signed up for but it's still a relaxing time.

Dépanneur Nocturne: 3.5/5 A short little game I picked up randomly. You go shopping at a convenience store late at night and find some weird things on the shelves. Unexplainable, cute, kinda fun.

Hidden Through Time: 3.5/5 A cute little find-the-items game with the ability to make your own themed maps. There was a lot of variety in the levels.

Yoshi's Crafted World: 3/5 I played this at May's when I was catsitting at her house lol. Cute time-waster for a platformer I'd recommend for kids but honestly got a little grindy at the end.

Hades 2: (Personal GOTY) 5/5 Though it came out in May, I played this pretty much throughout the year. It is in Early Access, but I truly believe this game has more polish and content than most finished games have on release, so in my heart it counts. Melinoë is a wonderful character, there's some real depth, heart, and humor to the writing, and the world has gotten even grander and denser than in Hades 1. The stakes are high in that she has to defeat an undying Titan over and over again to save her family, but the game still feels quintessentially Hades while also reshaped to fit Mel's character and journey. I feel like the team knows exactly what they want and what they're doing. Supergiant doesn't miss and I'm very excited to see what future updates hold.

Synergia: Dropped. This is a cyberpunk visual novel with robot yuri about an overworked detective who purchases a new household android for company. I ended up putting it down because the writing was... mostly fine, but when it stumbled, it felt very awkward and unnatural; I also realized the main writer was a man, which made some of the "oops, I have to sleep naked" lines coming from the childlike android feel fetishy at times. It wasn't constant, but it was prevalent enough to bother me. Still I've seen some wlw enjoy it anyway or even embrace those aspects, so what I don't like someone else might.

Harmony: The Fall of Reverie: 3/5 This one has a neat concept. Polly, the main character, is tasked with keeping balance between two worlds while juggling the desires of Glory, Bliss, Power, Chaos, Bond, and Truth, who are anthropomorphized characters you can agree or disagree with in their direction to lead humanity. The gameplay idea is that you can see the consequences of your choices branching out before you make them, which at times is really cool because it lets you plan what you want, but at times also feels like you're really just looking at the behind-the-scenes of the developer code lol.

Hello Goodboy: 2.5/5 I must've misjudged this one because I think it was either for real little kids, or it just wasn't translated well. It's a story about a kid and his dog in the afterlife. Felt approachable for teaching kids how to play a video game for the first time.

Hohokum: 3.5/5 At first I could not get into this for the life of me but then it clicked after a few sessions and now I think really fondly on this weird, abstract experience that is more of a toy than a game. I only mark it down because I found the map so damn confusing.

Pentiment: 5/5 No notes, full stars, going right up there on the shelf of "games I'd recommend to Disco fans." This game officially made me a Josh Sawyer fan. I didn't think I'd get invested in a story about 16th century Bavarian monks but I cried several times.

A Tiny Sticker Tale: 4/5 A cute puzzle game set around the idea that you can pick up stickers of items and people, and place them somewhere else. Nice for an afternoon!

Pyre: An excellent 4.5/5 that I look more favorably on in hindsight than when I was playing; I want to give it a 5/5 rating but something about the combat really didn't click for me. You have been banished from the Commonwealth after an unmentioned crime, and after finding allies, you discover you can guide them to partake in ancient rites that will grant ascension back into the Commonwealth one at a time (if you're successful). To earn everyone's freedom, you basically have to play basketball while juggling all three of your main player characters on the field, who all have different abilities and movement speeds, and I struggled with that. That said, the story is Supergiant at its absolute peak, and I think it has the best soundtrack of all their games, which is saying a lot. There's light character roleplaying, but the main choices are made for you in how well you play fantasy basketball: the game will move on whether you win or lose, and the story will adapt.

Landlord of the Woods: 5/5 I really enjoy Madison Karrh's games and Landlord of the Woods is no exception. It's a short puzzle game about finding a new job and showing up on your first day... except your job is a landlord to a community living in the woods who do not want a landlord. Lighthearted yet also creepy, ironic without being jaded, it's delightfully unique.

Insomnia: Theater in the Head: 4/5 A short narrative/puzzle game about a woman's struggles with insomnia. Really captures the energy of all the wild thoughts running through your head at 2am.

Detective Grimoire: Secret of the Swamp: 3.5/5 Starting to show its age but I really like detective games where YOU have to figure out who did it. It is also fortunately not very punishing but you do have to think a little.

Roadwarden: 4/5 This gave me maybe the closest feeling of roleplaying Dragon Age Origins that I've had since playing Pillars of Eternity, just with a smaller budget and largely text-based. You play as a Roadwarden, who is charged with keeping the roads of a peninsula safe from monsters and bandits; but you have another job from your supervisors to see if the peninsula would be open to trade in the future, and would require new merchants and changing leadership. You can be a hero, an asshole, you can sell out the villagers, or quit your job and live with them... there are lots of small discoveries and connections to be had in this game.

Sarawak: 3.5/5 Another short little game, this one a literary mystery set in Oxford and Malaysia, about a woman investigating her parents' histories. I find myself really enjoying these small narrative adventure games as I get older.

Catlateral Damage: 2.5/5 Wish I enjoyed the "cats knocking stuff off stuff" game more, but truthfully it got a little boring after ten minutes.

Planescape Torment: 4/5 Clearly a long-beloved game for a reason, and I see how it inspired Disco Elysium. The combat is horrible and mechanics are old as balls, but the story and writing are top-tier. You play as a man who wakes up in a morgue after dying with no memory of who he is, and you have to hunt down your memories through the clues your previous lives have left you. But it's not a detective story, it's more about reinventing yourself and deciding who to be in your new life. The OG Harry du Bois, in a way.

En Garde! 4.5/5 What a goofy game! It's a quirky, funny action/adventure game that fully embraces the swashbuckling energy of fencing with a woman lead, which is a nice difference. The characters are flamboyant, the lines are overdramatic, and the game is very self-aware of its genre and embraces it. Found the enemy waves a little overwhelming at times but nothing insurmountable, it just has a lot of mechanics.

Robotherapy: 3.5/5 An interesting little premise about a robot that wants to be a therapist. The writing is fine, but occasionally weighed down by its need to be funny; still it's got a few interesting twists.

Lieve Oma: 3/5 A short story about a child who goes walking in the woods with a grandmother hunting for penny buns throughout the years. This kinda touched me because I never knew my grandparents well.

Hatoful Boyfriend: 4/5 Yes, I'm about a million years late to this game. Turns out the pigeon dating simulator is, in fact, really interesting, genuinely funny, and an absolute horror show at times.

Lego Horizon Adventures: 3.5/5 What the hell, it has Aloy shooting machines and Varl loving comic books and Sylens as a DJ. It definitely feels like it was made for kids who have watched for years over their parents' or older siblings' shoulder as they play the more difficult Horizon mainline games. I did wish it were longer and the gameplay a little more complex but I had fun with it.

stitch.: 4/5 Great little puzzle game where you group certain numbers of stitches together to form shapes with a truly INSANE number of puzzles.

Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery: 4.5/5 A short narrative adventure about an artist trying to paint "the finest scenery" with some simple puzzles. It reminded me a lot of Ghibli films, maybe not as polished but with some really heartbreaking twists and moments for me about inspiration, communing with your fellow artists, and also the passage of time.

Wavetale: 4/5 A 3d platformer about environmentalism and worker's rights that takes place in a flooded world with only boats to get around... until Sigrid discovers a supernatural ability to run/ride on water thanks to the help of a mysterious shadow. I didn't think this was going to get as deep as it did, and while I think it did go a little long, I respect the vision even if the platforming was kinda clunky.

Summerhouse: 3/5 Another game that's more of a toy than a game. You unlock different walls, windows, roofs, trees, people, etc. to build your house. I like the style of this one, just wish there was more of everything.

Between Horizons: (GOTY RUNNER-UP) 4.5/5 Hidden gem of this year! Despite having just a few things in common with Mass Effect 1, it reminded me a lot of that game (red-haired default female protagonist on a spaceship suddenly thrust into a position of authority and tasked with tracking someone down). It takes place on a generation ship deep into its journey when suddenly systems are sabotaged and rebellion looks like it's brewing. Stella, the new Chief of Security, has to find the culprit before the mission reaches a point of no return. REALLY good puzzles in this one imo, I actually had to pen-and-paper some stuff to figure out who did what.

Dungeons of Hinterberg: 4/5 Another hidden gem in which dungeons appear around the modern-day Austrian Alps, sparking a sudden wave of tourists and dungeon-crawlers to visit. Part Zelda and part Persona, you explore dungeons by day and hang out with friends and locals by night. The game questions us on if the tourism brought to a small town as a result of the magic spawning there is actually helping, or if the capital and greed it brings might change the village for the worst. The game is about 1/3 relationship sim, 1/3 combat, 1/3 puzzles; I enjoyed all three to varying degrees but I think the puzzles are the strongest.

Paper Trail: Another grid-based puzzle system I dropped (I'm noticing a pattern). You play as a young woman who runs away from home to go to college, and she can "fold" corners of reality to make bridges, connect landpaths, etc. Gorgeous environments and neat concept, I just struggled with it.

1000xResist: (GOTY RUNNER-UP) 4.5/5 Half of Tumblr should be playing this. It's a scifi game set in the distant future in which aliens have arrived on Earth and brought with them a devastating plague that kills most humans. A girl called Iris is the only person who seems to be not only immune but also now immortal, who is cloned/later clones herself throughout the years (first to study a cure, and then to keep company/create a new society). You play as Watcher, a clone created a thousand years later to record Iris's life, now known as the ALLMOTHER's, life, and ensure her authority goes unchallenged in a post-apocalyptic world. I can't even talk about it more without spoiling but it tackles authority and rebellion, identity, memory, bad friendships, generational trauma, modern Asian American/Canadian diaspora... If you enjoy any combination of the following you will probably enjoy it: Everything Everywhere All At Once, Evangelion, Imperial Radch, Arrival, Ghost in the Shell.

not included are my gatcha games lmao which are currently animal crossing pocket camp (og and complete) and fire emblem heroes

[bettydice]

I have finished Veilguard. A bunch of thoughts under the cut!

The Companions: Loved all of them and all the banter and their interactions. I thought the companion quests were fantastic and there was a lot of content there and I enjoyed it all. Voice acting was fantastic and some line deliveries made me tear up. And while it was honestly nice to have everyone get along well and be respectful with each other, I did miss some... bite and conflict. Like you get all those delicious conversations with Solas and questioning of motives and I wanted more of that sort of thing. Also I'd die for Assan and Manfred. The Environments: This is definitely one of the strongest parts of the game for me. Everything is gorgeous and I loved just walking around, exploring. I thought they found a great balance of streamlined and exploration! Puzzles were at a difficulty that I can still enjoy (thus very simple, I'm sure other people are annoyed by that) and it made exploring satisfying and relaxing instead of a chore. And I loved seeing changes in the environments after certain events or NPCs moving into places that I'd cleared. I rarely fast travelled because I loved walking through the Crossroads so much.

Rook: Overall, I enjoyed Rook. I chose Erika Ishii's voice for my first playthrough and thought it was fantastic. Also loved every Mourn Watch dialogue option. However... Rook has a loooot of auto dialogue and the dialogue options feel quite limited, so I'm worried about replays and being able to make different Rooks actually feel different. Also hate to say this, but Rook could smile a little less in cutscenes... I also don't think you can play a Rook that antagonizes any companions or is just plain shit at conflict resolution.

Combat: Even though I never felt like I fully mastered it, I enjoyed it. And especially after recently replaying all the other games - the dragon fights were so much cooler (though as a mage, they were also 80% running around screaming). I didn't miss being able to control my companions, except for taking screenshots. Romance: I romanced Bellara and I love her, she is my beautiful wife. I do wish there'd been more romance specific content, especially because you get to see soo much of your companions getting together and being together and you're just there like... what about me? Spare romance banter for Rook pls? I didn't even get a romance specific greeting! Though ultimately, I'm really happy with the romance and the ending added some welcome drama, because Bellara was the one that got abducted by the blight/Elgarnan and yesss! The drama! The fade statues guilt trip! She's so smart and fierce when she returns! And the last scene was super sweet. <3

Story: Overall I'd say... Yay? Loved all the Lore drops and actual answers. Thought the side quests were well done and interesting. Another shout out to the companion quests! All in all, I'm satisfied with the ending, I think. HOWEVER! You can feel the Things We Didn't Import all over the game. There were so many moments where I was like, okay they COULD have mentioned xyz here easily, but no, they have to go out of their way to be vague or not let you talk to this character much. I don't need actual cameos (Isabela you deserve better) but there's so many missed opportunities for simple mentions or codex entries and it's such a shame. Because this IS the culmination of the story and why can't we see that reflected in little moments, so that we can truly feel the depth of the story once more? But I do love the Codex! There's so much good stuff in there! I might even go back and read all the Codex entries I haven't yet. Oh, why do we see no Elves working for Solas? Did he manage to get his entire spy network killed before the game? Classic Solas. Music: Soundtrack was fine, better than I expected tbh though a few scenes had some really awkward whimsical music that made me go ?????????? The Varric thing is dumb. The 'twist' only works because I guess nobody ever mentioned his death ever again. I hate sacrificing character development or People Behaving Normally for twists.

Why is the Inquisitor still wearing FUCKING PYJAMAS. Really wish there was an option to dye armour. The decision between Minrathous and Treviso is a cool concept and loved (though hated) seeing the fallout but what.... Rook and their two buddies are the only thing standing between a city and complete ruin???? I do not think so.

That's all for now.

[colesluvr]

When Your Powers Are Taken | All Ninja x Female Reader

REQ: I HAVE A REQUEST!! How abt all ninja x female reader; when your elemental power is taken by aspheera (like kai’s was taken)

can i be frank with yall, i kinda like this lmaoo. kinda want to make a p2 to this, how y/n will react to losing her power. thx for the request, i really enjoyed writing this!! hope yall enjoy! <33

if you want me to make this a seprate reaction i'll write that as well, just holla <3 by that i mean each of thme having their own reaction to y/n losing her power

E/P: Elemental Power

"No! Don't!"

It was too late. 

With one push of the block, aligning the puzzle in it's proper pattern. It glowed bright color's and the pyramid started to rumble. Dust and pebbles fell from the top of the room. Everyone stood in a line in front of the large chamber, waiting to see what will happen.

Suddenly, the door exploded, causing everyone to duck down as dust filled the room. Laughter soon emerged from the chamber, and you opened your eyes to see a large, blue, female snake slither out with a staff in her hand.

You squinted your eyes, coughing from the debry that fell upon you. You tried to get abetter iew of the snake lady in front of you. 

"Free at last," She said as she looked around. She looked forward to see 8 figures on the ground, "Where is he?" Was the first thing she asked. Looking oward Lloyd. 

"Who?" Lloyd grunts as he tried to stand, "The treacherous deceiver. The one who imprisoned me." She spoke, "Tell me where he is, and I, Aspheera, will show you mercy." The snake demanded. 

"I believe she is looking for the boy mentioned in the hieroglyphics." Zane guessed as everyone sat up from the ground.

"What do I tell her?" Lloyd whispered, looking over to Nya who got in his face with a worried tone, "Tell her the truth! We don't know." 

They all stood, Lloyd starting to speak, "Uh, that was a while ago..."

The blade on the snakes staffed began to glow purple as her rage increased. Raising her weapon, she shot a bright, purple beam to Lloyd, knocking him into the nearest wall. 

Clutch Powers dodged Lloyd's body as it made contact with the stone. The ninja's pulled up their hoods while you got your weapon in hand, all of you ready to fight. 

"Let her have it!" Jay shouted, shooting a spark of electricity toward the Serpentine. 

"Uh," Clutch spoke as he hid near the wall of the exit, "I'll get help!"

"Help from who? The camals??" You shouted at the explorer who ran away. "Y/N, focus!" Nya shouted at you, both of you dodged the blast of purple energy shot at from the snake. 

The Serpentine chuckles as all the Ninja's and your's powers blew right off her, leaving not even a scratch on her. 

"You." 

Her hand pointed toward you as you were the only one in front of her. Her eyes and yours locked, "You are a E/P elemental?" 

"The one and only! Name's Y/N! Not so nice, to meet  you!" You shot a blast of E/P at the Serpentone when you shouted to meet,watching her once again take the hit without ant damage. 

You watched as her head slowly raised, her hissing loud and clear in your ears. 

"Your E/P, enlightens, me." Aspsheera spoke softly, slowly slithering her way toward you as she continued, "For too long I have been trapped in this cold, dark place."

 You stepped back  from the snake as she got closer, and closer. 

"I will take your E/P!"

"I'd like to see you try, snake!" You tempted, ready your power in your hand. Before you can land a hit, you saw her wave her staff to the side and toward you raising up, however your body followed with her staff. 

You felt your body freeze, you couldn't move. Your feet were lifted from the ground as you felt the power inside you fade away. It hurtI. You let out screams of pain, trying to break free from the Serpentines hold. 

However, the purple hold had you in a tight knot. You weren't able to escape and endeered the pain. 

"Y/N!" Kai cried your name, attempting to get up and stop the snake. 

"What's happening?" Cole cried "She's stealing her elemental power!" Zane shouts, answering Cole's question. "We must stop her!"

They tried.

They really tried. 

When they attempted their spinjitzu on her, she gave them a taste of theirown medicane, somehow still being able to steal your power.

You felt your eyelids get heavy, and your body grew more and more tired by the second. Next thing you knew everything went blank. 

"She knows Spinjitzu." Lloyd mumbled in a worried tone. 

"How?!" Jay cried, twice as confused as Lloyd. 

Suddenly, your body fell straight to the floor, but you didn't move. Not even an 'ow' left your lips. Bad sign.

You were knocked out cold. 

"Y/N!" Lloyd called out your name, everyone running to your body. 

"I..thank you, elemental. In return for your gift, I shall spare your lives." 

Next thing, well, no one knew, was there hands chained up to each other and pinned to the wall high above the ground. However, you were still knocked out in between Zane and Nya. 

"May you enjoy your time in this place, as much as I did. Farewell," Aspheera, who was now the color of your E/P, bid her goodbyes, slithering toward the exit.

"You won't get away with this!" Lloyd yelled over to the snake.

They all watched the Serpentine leave, Lloyd looked back at your unconscious body. Your head was hung down low as your right arm was raised in the air by the chain that pinned you all to the wall. 

"Y/N? Y/N, can you hear me?" He cried, pulling himsef forward to try and see you better. Nya was able to reach over, holding herself forward with her feet, as she pulled down your mask that coverd the body half of your face and look at you with a sadden look. 

"Zane, how is she?" Cole asked, looking ove rto his Nindroid friend who was already steps ahead of him. 

Zane took a moment to scan your body, before responding. 

"Her vitals ar stable. She's alive. She should recover shortly." Zane spoke with a soft smile.

"Good." Lloyd sighed, looking at the chain above him,

 "Now we just have to figure out a way out of here."  

[askagamedev]

On the topic of “what the player is doing”, what do you feel about so called walking simulators? How does the design of a game where the player is largely is moving from point a to b is defined?

Even in walking simulators, there's still the active element of moving around the environment and examining each item. The player retains agency in exploration games, even though there aren't too many other overt actions to take.

Consider a "walking simulator" like The Talos Principle. The actions that the player take include exploring environments, collecting puzzle pieces, avoiding obstacles, jamming obstacles, moving boxes, climbing boxes, using boxes to obstruct enemies, and that neat time recording feature. The Talos Principle primarily interweaves the exploration and narrative elements with puzzle solving.

Another "walking simulator" is The Stanley Parable. In it, there's really only exploring and interacting with the environment, but the presence of the narrator enables two major actions the player can take - obey or disobey the narrator and see the results. It is these decisions and actions that provide the engaging gameplay - the players get pulled in by seeing the results of their choices.

The important thing about the actions that the player chooses to undertake is that every action a player does must cause the game to react to that player's specific actions. Moving from point A to point B shows the player more of the world. Choosing to interact with a door means the door opens, revealing what was behind it. Allowing the player to jump should allow the player to reach places that would otherwise be unreachable without the jumping. The actions a player can take must be acknowledged and recognized by the game. This creates a sense of agency and ownership that places the player in the game world. The player experience changes from "Kratos pulled the head off of Helios" to "I pulled the head off of Helios". These active choices cause a sense of self-insertion that would otherwise not exist if everything just happened while the player passively watched the scene unfold.

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[bluebudgie]

I heard it's GW2 map hours

And just because I feel like it. An appreciation post for LS3. The story throughout that season may have been a little choppy, but man if it didn't deliver in the map department.

Bloodstone Fen. Absolutely tiny and gimmicky. And so much fun. A new map aesthetic we've never seen before. Introduced new gliding masteries that felt somewhat relevant on release. Evading obstacles while flying? Getting adventurous now! Map completion in <15 minutes? Say no more, your ultimate keyfarm friend is here. Best experienced without mounts.

Ember Bay. A giant SKULL SHAPED volcano. Probably the most brutal jumping puzzle in the game. Doesn't get more metal than that. Introduced a new way to travel around the map. Which wasn't optional. You had to use it to get to places. Mounts made that obsolete though.

Bitterfrost Frontier. Another tiny one. Had that one mechanic where you had to craft a tonic to be able to enter a part of the map bc otherwise you'd freeze to death. Literally noone liked that mechanic but if you get into the freezing place and move to the right part of the mountain you get an absolutely gorgeous view. Also great forest section. And that one cheesy cherry tree lookout that used to be restricted but can now be flown into with mounts.

Lake Doric

Draconis Mons. Do I even need to say anything about that one. Oakheart Essence. Explore the map by becoming spider man. Absolutely gorgeous map with a fun layout and tight meta bosses. An amazing jumping puzzle that seems confusing at first, but once you figure out the clever hints that point you in the right direction becomes an absolute feast to complete. They truly didn't do anything quite like this map since 😔Best experienced without mounts.

Siren's Landing. Hey it's Orr! But it's less deadly and more varied. (ilu OG Orr no hatred here). First time we got a weird waypoints-that-aren't-waypoints mechanic. Trying to get up to the stupid spider boss with updrafts only was.... interesting. (Or was it a mastery point? Was it both?). Another amazing jumping puzzle! A perfect breather after the two complex puzzles in the maps before, but still posing a decent enough challenge.

LS3 had sooo much variety. Hell pit swamp! Fire! Ice! Jungle! Each map had such unique features. Absolute top tier season for map design.

[ofpineapplesanddawns]

Now we're on part five of this blasted au, and hopefully we're getting somewhere with this, haha.

On with the fic!

--

"Did you enjoy your bath?" Lucian asked when Peter walked out into the hallway, finding the lycan already dressed and ready for the day, even though it was already early evening, oh well.

"A few notes on bathing in an ancient stone tub." Peter started. "One, it looks cool as fuck, but straight up is not uncomfortable when the water's cold as balls. Two, I'm honestly disappointed it wasn't filled with blood, in a whole, ya know, Elizabeth Bathery way. Or Lady D's bath puzzle from Resident Evil. And three, you need towels."

The older man chuckled at that, which was the most positive reaction Peter had seen out of him the whole time he'd been in the fortress. "You need to heat up the water using the fireplace and the buckets nearby, I don't often bother with it as I can just bathe in my lycan form. I'm not sure why they would put blood in the baths, as that is a waste of blood, and it is of no use to them outside of their bodies."

He then smiled. "And why use a towel when you can just shake water out of your fur?" He turned away, heading for the stairs, and Peter sputtered, throwing his dirty clothes into the bedroom to chase after the man.

"Did you just fuckin' make a dog joke!?" Peter asked when he caught up to him.

"It is not a dog joke when it is a true fact. And I am not a dog."

"Wolf joke, then!

"Not a wolf, per say. Just something more than wolf or human."

Peter glowered at the back of Lucian's head. "Smartass. Where are you going?"

"Out. I need to stretch my legs, I've been cooped up in the bedroom for days, and I need to get moving. I hate being restless." Lucian replied as he walked out of the broken doors, out into the night. He removed the fur lined jacket he has been wearing, then turned to face Peter. "You may come with, if you so wish."

"Ehhhh... yeah, no. Not the runnin' sort. Got the legs for it, not the motivation, ya get me?" Peter gave him a grin before shaking one of his legs, as if to demonstrate. "Also, you clearly saw me runnin' away from you in these boots, not the best sort."

Lucian looked at his leg, then at him. "I'm shocked you hadn't tripped earlier in the chase." He tossed the jacket towards Peter, who fumbled and nearly dropped it when he caught it.

"I am still not sure why you decided to explore a fortress up in the mountains during the autumn, but I just assume that you are not the kind of person who makes the best choices for himself." Lucian said in a casual tone, though the smirk he wore had him clearly being smug.

"God, you're a prick." Peter grumbled. "Go off and be free or whatever it is lycans do on runs." He said aloud and he swore that Lucian called him an insult in Romanian. He flipped the man off, watching him run past the main gains, out into the darkness.

Peter sighed loudly, glancing up at the sky, the moon wasn't full, but it was getting there. He wondered how much more dangerous someone like Lucian was during the full moon. From what he was told, lycans could change form at any time, but the moon was helpful. How so, Lucian didn't elaborate, as if he wanted to keep that a surprise.

Probably shouldn't push his luck with dog jokes around a werewolf.

"Nah, still gonna do it." He smirked to himself and pulled his headlamp from his pocket, slipping it on. His phone followed and Peter started to record.

"I'm back inside the castle, the name of which has escaped me. It's the one with the Moon Beast protectin' it." Peter started to narrate as he walked around, avoiding recording the bones that still laid on the ground. He really needed to ask Lucian about that.

He spoke about what he saw as he wandered around the castle, looking into rooms that he could open the doors for. He filmed what looked to be rotting, torn, and damaged with age tapestries. They seemed to depict several people, typically three people in particular.

All gothy and vampire-y, they look like douche bags. Probably were. Or are. Peter had no idea if any of the vampires who lived here were still alive, Lucian didn't seem sure of this fact himself when he was telling Peter stories.

"Hot werewolf guy's gotta get updated on his vampire info." Peter said to himself, then added: "note to self: edit that line out, don't wanna get Lucian in trouble."

It was weird though, being here and having gotten all that information from Lucian. Why tell a human any of this stuff, especially when he stated that the human world was meant to be ignorant of the war between the lycans and vampires. Lucian even said that it was possible things were kept quiet by outside forces, from what he had learned over his long life.

Fuckin' insane a whole supernatural war was happening while humans had their own battles and conflicts. And the whole thing of having a fight in front of dozens of humans in 2003? Why do that? What was the point?

Not doing a great job with the whole keeping things secret. He snorted to himself as he came to a door, finding it unlocked. Inside was what looked to be a throne room of sorts, with several seats. Peter's boot steps echoed in the large, stone room as his headlamp illuminated areas.

One throne was damaged, and it didn't look like it was caused by structural damage, this looked like someone tried to tear it apart. Judging by the deep, long gauges that could only be caused by claws...

"Fuck." Peter hissed, approaching it. He filmed his examination of the chair and stepped back. "Did Lucian do this? God damn, he could have done that to me..."

Which was a frightening thought. The guy he tried to help out while he was sick, and was eating energy bars with over an hour ago, could have torn him apart like he was made of tissue paper. If he could do this to stone, he could make it so that Peter was just a splatter of meat.

He remembered the bones, and he felt a cold shudder go through his whole body.

Lucian was a dangerous figure, a war leader with centuries of fighting under his belt, and with a kill count to boot. He was an all-powerful beast of a man and wolf, one that could have killed Peter at any moment.

And yet he didn't.

"Probably should count my blessings, or whatever..." He swallowed, deciding that being in the throne room or counsel room, or whatever this place was for had been explored enough.

His wandering led to him finding another room that he had no access to, it was purposely chained off, with even large chunks of stone blocking the door. Peter was curious, but knew he couldn't move all the stuff out of the way to see what was inside.

Still, he was curious. He pocketed his phone and climbed up a few of the stones, finding something engraved on a door.

A name, faded with time, along with a strange symbol under the name. Weird, the symbol looked kinda familiar, where had he seen it before...

"What are you doing here?"

Peter screamed and nearly fell off the stone he was kneeling on, before slamming himself into the door with a wince. "Fuck!"

He turned around, seeing Lucian standing there, holding an honest-to-God torch, like you'd see in a movie with knights and shit. Lucian did not look happy to see Peter, in fact, he was glaring hard. "You shouldn't be here."

"I figured..." Peter rubbed his cheek where he had hit it on the door. "Sorry, I went explorin', you never told me I couldn't, and you didn't say shit about where I could and couldn't go."

"You could have at least asked." Lucian said. "Please get away from this area, it should be left alone."

Peter glanced at the engraving, then at Lucian. "Why?"

"It's a tomb."

"Oh." Peter blinked, and moved to get back down. "Right, okay, yeah."

The tired tone in Lucian's voice hinted to Peter that he should probably not ask about the tomb, that this was enough of an explanation. He was curious of the name, Sonja, and the symbol, but he realized that this person might have been important to Lucian. From his past, probably. Had she been a friend? Not a sibling, Lucian said that he had no family, maybe a... girlfriend? Wife?

He held his tongue as he followed Lucian away from the tomb.

"Why were you exploring my home, if you do not mind me asking?" Lucian asked after a few beats of awkward silence.

"Just... wanted some B-roll footage for my new video. I promise, it won't contain any footage of you. Plus, I wanted to explore a scary old castle that gives off the Dracula vibes. I mean, I've seen plenty of castles while livin' in the UK, how can you not? But this? This is my kinda aesthetic."

"Dracula, eh? Is that still something humans enjoy?"

Peter nodded. "Oh yeah, now there's this audio story version where episode releases correspond with all the dates from the book. It's well done, can't wait for letters from my good friend Jonathan."

He snickered to himself, but noticed the confused look on Lucian's face. "Dude, how behind with the times are you?"

"I have not had much access to human media in well over a decade, Peter."

"Fuck, that's borin'. No wonder this place has no wifi, I'm gonna have to go into town to upload my video."

"Hm." Lucian turned to face him. "When will you be heading out? I'm better now, the healing has mainly finished, minus a few twinges, but those will pass."

"You sure?"

"Very. This is nothing compared to the coma, and it is not the first time I've been harmed since I was shot. It's just been a while, people tend to avoid me at all times."

"'kay." Peter sniffed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "What're you gonna do when I leave?"

There was a shrug. "What I've been doing. Keeping myself alive, hunting, prowling around, and killing an vampire that dares to come close to this place. It's been about four years since the last time I've seen one, a death dealer to be exact. He did not get very far past the gates."

Peter felt that cold shudder go up his spine again. "God damn, Lucian. You say it like it's normal, but that sure as hell ain't. Why would a vampire even come here?"

"Because this used to be theirs, and because sometimes someone assumes that the 'Moon Beast' is a lycan warrior and want to take them on."

"Shit. Look, before you jump to conclusions, no, I didn't know you were a real monster. I straight up thought you were some local legend." Peter said, waving his hands about. "Trust me, the vast majority of the legends I've gone to explore over the months have been just that, legends. Myths. A load of old wive's tales."

He poked Lucian in the chest. "But you? You're fuckin' real! And I can't even film you because I even I know that's a really, really stupid idea! And if vampires are still after you, uuuhhhggg...! I don't think I can even post this episode! I'll come up with an excuse or whatever..."

Lucian stared at him in the light of the lamp and fire, his expression was hard to read, but he was looking right at Peter. "Are you trying to keep me safe?" He asked, his voice quiet enough to not echo in the empty stone hall.

Peter blinked and then made a face, followed by a series of improbable noises. "Yeah, well, don't want some vampire to think they can get wise and try to hurt you again! Don't want a repeat of that Kraven guy, or whatever, right? Come on, show me more places around this castle! Let me see Dracula stuff!"

Lucian didn't say anything regarding that fast bit, but he nodded, asking if Peter would like to see where he used to do his blacksmith work.

TBC

--

Peter likes Lucian, not in a romantic way (not yet), but he knows he'd feel like shit if something happened to Lucian, especially if it was because a vampire watched his video.

Also, in my head, Lucian blocked off the room Sonja died in, leaving it as her tomb. The symbol is her necklace. :)

And, again, head canon, Lucian destroyed Viktor's throne seems like something he'd do in his grief over Sonja. And as a fuck you to the man who caused her death.

Still trying to think of how Peter could get Lucian to travel with him, but so far, I'm enjoying Peter and Lucian getting to know each other.

[snugglesquiggle]

was browsing some backlogs and found an old game idea i had

you know that trend of "reverse X" games? hear me out: reverse stealth game

you play as a captain of the guard, perhaps up for private hire, idk. gameplay has 3-4 phases:

some sort of stage/mission select where you're assigned some place. maybe different stages have different payouts, and you can examine location traits (stored value, risk of break in, terrain, etc.) before deciding which place to defend. or less ambitiously, it's a linear game and there's just a series of stages. the real gameplay loop is after you've got a location

you explore the 3d environment as your character. you can walk through the different rooms. the implicit goal here is to think like a thief or saboteur, imagining how they'd infiltrate the location

after you've got the lay of the land, you zoom out to a full map view of the location, and you can assign guards. you choose how many guards to assign, design their patrol routes and schedules, give orders, etc. there's resources to manage here, probably (guards need to be paid, and you have a finite amount, anyway). at advanced stages, you can even lay traps and alarms, etc.

here's where things get interesting. once you confirm the guards, it time skips, simulating infiltration off screen. there's five results of this simulation a: "no alerts". your guards dont see anything. this can happen if your solution to the patrol puzzle sucks and a thief slips through - a failure state. not sure how i feel about no thieves showing up, but maybe it's a possibility to keep you on your toes. alternatively, your guards are obviously effective, so all the thieves probed your defenses and were deterred without incident b: "did i hear something?" a guard raises a low level of alarm. this can happen if they catch a glimpse of a thief, or circumstantial evidence (footsteps, a door ajar, whatever) that suggests one might've come through. but this can also be triggered spuriously — sometimes there's genuinely nothing there c: "thief!" — a guard sees unambiguous evidence of a thief, and raises the alarm. however, they have no idea where he is, only clues and last sightings, and you have to direct where they search, what exits they block d: "get him!" outright chase. guard sees a thief, knows where he is, you've just gotta keep them from escaping e: "got you!" dead to rights. opposite of a. thief crit fails and you catch them straight out of the simulation turn in cases b, c & d, you gain control and can issue orders to your guards i'm thinking this would probably be turned based? it should be very cerebral in a way that suits stopping to think and calculate the best move. not sure how it would work specifically tho but here would be the bulk of the gameplay, the back and forth of you trying to root out the thief (or determine if there even is a thief, or if they've run away) your guards cant cover every room and hallway, and the thief would be able to generate distractions. they might be able to take out guards but this wouldnt really be a combat game and a lot of the time, there's this judgment call to make because you can "end turn" and do another simulation timeskip if you think there's no thief (anymore) so you're weighing whether you're sure there's nothing hiding in the shadows, versus spending your men's mental energy (an exhaustible resource) to continue searching

[tokiro07]

That reply I got on my last Zelda post made me realize that I was only thinking about the story elements for potential Zelda-led games and not the mechanics of those games. I touched on it a bit in my reply, but I wanted to dive a little bit deeper into it here

As in Echoes of Wisdom, the goal here is to find gameplay styles that de-emphasize direct combat or physical dexterity, though we don't need to completely eschew them either (even EoW Zelda throws boulders around, after all)

Skyward Sword: a common complaint with Skyward Sword was the lack of content in the sky, so I think revisiting that through Zelda herself would be a great idea. Getting to spend more time with the Loftwings would be fun too, so I'd like them to play an active role within the dungeons. To that end, I'm thinking something inspired by Team Ico's The Last Guardian would work well, with the goal being to guide and instruct the Loftwing to perform tasks, requiring the player to pay attention to its mannerisms in order to gain some semblance of control

Minish Cap: the shrinking mechanic in the original was already a game-spanning puzzle in and of itself, so revisiting that could work well for Wisdom gameplay. To differentiate it, though, I might recommend expanding it to include shrinking and growing other objects, maybe a little bit like Superliminal but on a smaller scale. Or Zelda could just be shrunk down the entire time and needs to figure out how to navigate the world around her

Four Swords/Adventures: FSA ended with Zelda talking about learning a lesson about teamwork and some such, so this could either be another co-op game where the players need to coordinate with each other, or one player would be given multiple characters to work with at once and need to keep track of them all, like the single player in Tri Force Heroes. Honestly, my problem with TFH was that it was clearly not designed for single player, so if they revisited that concept with that explicit intention, I think they could have something solid

Ocarina of Time: obviously this would be Sheik stealth game. Oracle of Seasons already had minor stealth segments, so if you expand that concept into something more akin to the classic Metal Gear games, being more focused on observation, reaction and improvization than pure memorization, I think you'd really have something

Link Between Worlds: again, the 2D/3D puzzles of the original were already exactly the kind of thing we're looking for, so if the developers felt in any way that they hadn't fully explored the concept, like giving Zelda the ability to actually perform actions in 2D rather than simply moving, I think it would be worth revisiting

Zelda 1/Adventure of Link: similar to my idea for Four Swords, I think this one would best focus on the dichotomy between the two co-existing Zeldas, so perhaps an It Takes Two approach with each character having unique abilities would be best. Again, this is a good opportunity for co-op, but I'd like it if they could be controlled simultaneously, like in FSA. Maybe something more like Mario & Luigi's overworld segments, where they're both moving at the same time and different buttons are assigned to each character to activate their unique abilities. We don't really know enough about either of these Zeldas to conjecture what powers they'd have, but if we go off of Zelda I being under a sleep curse, maybe something to do with stillness vs. motion? Like one can make things stop and the other can make things speed up? It would take some workshopping, but I see potential here

Twilight Princess: knowing so little about the Twilight Realm, I'm envisioning labyrinthian architecture, where pathfinding is the name of the game. Given the predilection for darkness, perhaps light-based puzzles would be in order

Wind Waker: this one has the best reason to expand into combat for sure since Tetra is a fighter, but coordinating with her crew to perform tasks either for puzzle-solving or combat would be a perfect way to incorporate her Wisdom into the gameplay. Maybe there would be naval battles where steering the ship in the right way or firing the cannons at the right time would help fend off enemies. Maybe on land, resource management of ammunition and other supplies would be something the player has to be mindful of, or Tetra can bring two or three of her crew along at a time like the Sages in TotK to use their abilities

Spirit Tracks: the Phantoms were already pretty much exactly what we're looking for, so I think just coming up with new Phantoms and level designs would be sufficient. Rearranging the Spirit Tracks themselves for more efficient navigation could also be fun, but I don't know if most fans want land development in their Zelda games

Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom: I already said in my last post that the Ancient Power system in TotK would have worked as a Wisdom mechanic, so again, any enhancement or refinement therein should probably go to Zelda

If I were a professional, I'm sure I could come up with something a lot more workable than these high concepts, but my main goal with this thought exercise was just to see how the extant stories could be used to make new ones, and I definitely see a lot of areas of opportunity

Of these, I personally like the Skyward Sword idea best, I like what Last Guardian was going for and would really like to see the concept explored by other developers

[seriouslysam8]

I have to say -- I keep getting your fics confused with canon. Your Demelza has cemented itself as my official version. I found myself just accepting Marlene and Teegan from Brumons/Selcouth as canon too. I do miss Hermione in your fics, but I get your aversion after reading some of your explanations. I think writers spend too much time making her this all-knowing "go away for a chapter to research and then comes back with all the answers and piercing insight" type of character who can make no mistakes. But I have a bit more fondness for her so I notice her absence more.

I miss Brumous but I could 100% see where you were beginning to struggle/flame out with it. I'd noticed inthe last few chapters there was a lot less Harry/Ginny conversational time, which is where I think your writing really shines the most. You've got a great grasp of their voices.

Plus once you get to a certain point in plot deviation fics it becomes way too easy to just try and match everything into the official storyline and then it's more like...why even bother writing it? So instead you have to cut and adjust the canon into the new universe which can feel more like work than just exploring the relationship interactions JKR never really gave us.

It's my favorite part of Selcouth, too. So I'm really looking forward to that next chapter. I've got a lot of empathy for Harry's career choice there, dealing with stuck-in-their ways medical professionals is the worst, especially as a new physician.

I’m glad that my fics get you confused with canon! I’ve put so much love and effort into some of these OCs or more developed canon characters. I always keep them pretty consistent throughout all my different universes so they all read cohesively!

The Hermione missing just puzzles me all around. There are plenty of fics that drop other characters from their plot lines. But everyone seems to be hung up on Hermione in my fics. I wish other characters could receive as much love as her. There are tons of characters who deserve just as much or move love than her.

The Brumous burnout really wasn’t because of any frustrations with the plot or not knowing what to write. I’m perfectly comfortable with not matching with canon or worried that my writing chops aren’t up to snuff to divert dramatically from the source material. Not to sound conceded, but I do think I have the ability to tell unique stories and the ability to stray away from the stations of canon with no shortage of creativity. The main issue is, I think, boredom. While writing the longer stories in MIT, I was able to maintain writing one-shots and short stories within that universe to keep my interest from falling behind. With this, I can’t jump around in the timeline without spoiling everything I have planned. So, then, I think of totally different ideas that draw me in and those stories are never short and sweet. My attention keeps getting pulled more and more. I’m at the point now where I need to completely reread Brumous to continue and get back into the groove. That’s a task daunting with and within itself. Couple with the overwhelming response I’ve gained from Selcouth… damn, it’s hard to get back into the teenage Hinny mindset.

[rriavian]

Do you think Morpheus knows deep inside that Corinthian is his mirror? The reflection of his own darkness and desire?

Jessamy my beloved! I love getting asks from you! They are always the most interesting questions to really make me think about how to put my thoughts into words! <3 Sorry it took so long to answer this one (think I broke my record for time taken to answer an ask eek)!

I had this typed out nearly ready to post but got very distracted by Corintheus week! Can't believe it's February already, I hope you’re having a good New Year so far 😊

Does Morpheus know that the Corinthian is his mirror?

I think that Dream does, and that in some ways he holds himself responsible for the difficulty of it, because I think we can all agree that it’s a lot for any singular creation of his to embody. On the flipside of this you could argue that Fiddler’s Green is supposed to be a reflection of the light—the ‘heart’ of the Dreaming, a representation of pure life giving creation—with Gault as the fluid, transformative, link between all three of the major arcana. I think I’ve talked briefly about this before but it’s relevant again for this question.

Her place as a link between the two extremes, and her transformative powers, makes sense for why Gault would want to become a dream (and perhaps another reason why Dream agreed in the end) but it also suggests how complicated the facets of Dream’s identity are.

(I could probably make an entire separate post on this but! Moving on!)

All three major arcana reject him just as the rest of his creations do, are the last to return to the Dreaming and none of them do it by choice. Even Fiddler’s Green needs to first be tracked down. The Corinthian is found at the convention where Dream takes responsibility for making him the way he is, designating his rebellion as his own failure. The Corinthian was his masterpiece but I think Dream might now consider that as designing too ambitious a spec, the coding perfect but corrupted in the end. I think that assessment could be why he highlights the Corinthian’s purpose as being a dark mirror for humanity instead of one for himself, despite how closely those two things seem to be bound.

Not necessarily changing his mind, just changing the emphasis.

But, as I said, I also think Dream made the Corinthian for it. To be able to take it. Or at least hoped that he would—another reason why he might have said that he’d had so much hope for him, why Dream was so disappointed—not constructed to be given a burden, not supposed to be that at all. In many ways I think that’s why he’s a major arcana. But the Corinthian also has his own unique darkness, perhaps finding its origins in his creators but without its place in Dream’s larger puzzle it expresses differently, the exploration of what happens to a counterpoint to a dream that isn’t held internally.

The Corinthian is far more selfish with his darkness, lives out all that desire and need the way Dream can’t (and won’t), can embody it wholeheartedly because he’s not supposed to be balanced in the same way.

Yet in doing so he offers balance; can offer that to Dream, the same way he allows darker human impulses a chance to take center stage.

An outlet for it all.

All of Dream’s creations in some way seem to be that, a combination of the restriction of a role and the individuality of personality, might have a set purpose but have choices in how they carry out what they are. The same as Dream really. They are concepts personified, ideas and emotions that might originate in another, whether it be humanity or their creator, but they’ve been given their own voice.

It's no one way dictation…a dialogue with humanity because their function is to speak back.

So yes, I think that Dream knows that the Corinthian is his dark mirror far better than the Corinthian himself does. I think he knows how important he is in a way the Corinthian doesn’t see (the way the rest of his creations sometimes can’t see about themselves either).

I think the existence of a dark mirror (and other such representations) are a way in which Dream keeps emotionally healthy, just as they are a way for humans to keep emotionally healthy, and you could even argue that it’s how his creations keep themselves healthy too. Change and growth are certainly positive aspects of life, but like anything that’s not necessarily universal, because so is embracing what you are. Who you are. Without referencing my own neurodivergence too much, I think we can all understand circumstances where forcing oneself to change is far from a good and healthy thing.

Acceptance of the parts of oneself that we struggle with/have a tricky relationship with is a big part of what dreams and nightmares help humans to do.

It’s a big part of what a nightmare does.

Ok, this is getting long, so I’m going to make one final point. So I think that Dream could have spent centuries living vicariously through the Corinthian’s nightmarish nature and then finding that crucial mechanism corrupted, poisoned, when the Corinthian suddenly started killing dreamers in the Waking World. I don’t think that’s one of Dream’s desires at all, secret or otherwise, and I think it repulsed him to the point of potentially threatening to destabilise the rest of the system.

Perhaps Dream found his own darkness felt tainted by a reflection that (however intentional the rejection was) no longer wanted to mirror him.

In killing dreamer's the Corinthian was showing how he no longer wanted to mirror humanity (wanted to take from them instead, thought that a better match for what he was made for) and in doing so denied not only Dream, but his own identity too in no longer wanting to be what he was. For someone like Dream I think killing the dreamer’s would have been deeply offensive, an incredibly personal insult, a perversion of his function and an attack on what agency he has to fulfill it.

Whatever disgruntlement Dream may have with his role, he was then faced with the result of how instead of having a healthy outlet, those feelings could have been twisted/warped within the Corinthian's own unique mix of individuality and function. Perhaps in many ways it felt like being forced to kill his dreamers with his own hands.

And I think that was why when Dream found him in Berlin he was so quick to decide to unmake the Corinthian on the spot.

[twstbookclub]

Hide and Seek

Summary: A game of hide and seek with Floyd goes terribly wrong. POV: 2nd Person Pronouns: Gender Neutral Admin/Writer: Cat 🐈 Tags: Fluff, Comedy, Slight Horror, Romantic and/or Platonic

Word Count: 654

Running with bated breath, as the sound of laughter rang down the hall, why in the world did you think it was a good idea to mess with Floyd? Of all the things you could have done. Did you seriously have a death wish? Sadly, you would need to process your life choices later. He was approaching rapidly. Damn him and his long legs! 

As you were sprinting you noticed the door near the end of the hall. “Azul’s office. Not the ideal choice, but it will have to do for now,” you mumbled while opening the door and slamming it shut. Your breathing was unstable as you panted against the frame.

Looking up from his desk, Azul stares at you with a puzzled look. Setting his pen down, he sighs, “What did you do this time? And does it involve another overblot?”

“Oh shut up! ….. I don't think it's- just help me out and I’ll do whatever ya want.”

Humming, Azul nodded over to the desk, “If it’s Jade, I wish you luck, but if it’s Floyd you may get under the desk. I expect you to work a full week’s worth of shifts for this whole ordeal.”

It didn’t take you long to respond, I mean come on it’s practically a get-out-of-jail-free card. “Deal! Just don’t put me with the twins,” you pleaded while dashing under the desk.

Chuckling Azul picked up his pen, “No promises. After all, you did say whatever I pleased.”

Mentally facepalming at your choice of words, your breath immediately halts as you hear that damn sound. “Oh Shrimpy, I know you’re here somewhere,” Floyd said with his signature laugh as he slams open the door, “Come out, come out, wherever you are~”

“You break it, you pay it,” Azul warned, not even batting an eye at the eel.

“Aww, you’re no fun Azul,” He whined while looking around, “Now where’s Shrimpy? I know I saw them come in here.”

“Is that so? They must have passed by me then,” Azul stated, before gesturing to his paperwork, “After all, I’ve been swamped by paperwork.”

Floyd stared at Azul, his smile now fully gone from his face. Suddenly the paperwork was darker due to the shadow of a six-foot-three body structure of an eel, slouching and hovering over Azul's desk.

As if being able to feel Floyd’s stare, Azul tapped his pen twice on the desk. A small muscle spasm hit his hand due to nerves, and a small stain of sweat went down his sideburn. “Though feel free to look wherever you please. Just don’t make too much of a mess.”

Almost immediately you see the eel snake around the desk, a huge smile plastered across his face. You couldn’t help but feel your heart rate increase as you watch him. He was moving almost lethargic as he explored the room.

Something was off, you just couldn’t tell what.

That was until Floyd turned around and looked you dead in the eyes. That damn octopus! “There you are, Shrimpy! Come here so I can squeeze ya~” Floyd stated happily while making grabby hands at you.

“You damn octopus! You ratted me out didn’t you!” You yelled at the man above you as Floyd started reaching for you.

“I wouldn’t dream of it. I expect to see you here tomorrow, and Floyd?" Azul finally glanced from the stack of papers and having a clear petty smile on his face, "Don’t break them. I need them in peak condition for their shifts."

Before you could respond Floyd grabbed you and pulled you out from under the desk. Almost instantaneously and effortlessly you were being picked up and squeezed by him. “Hehehe, I got you now my Shrimpy♡!~”

Azul goes back to the paperwork as Floyd leaves the office "Noon sharp!" Floyd without hesitation responds "No promises!~"

"Azul Ashengrotto what the FUCK!!" you scream as it reverberates down the hall.

[thelostgirl21]

Congratulations on these two for the smoothest lute exchange in TV history...

Because I literally can't tell you at what point exactly it managed to change hands.

I had to return and watch the scene, just to go check if we could catch a glimpse of Jaskier holding his lute while talking with Yarpen after his meeting with Radovid (spoilers alert: we can, but it's easy to miss), because I was mentally going "Wait. Do we ever see Radovid handing Jaskier his lute back, or did he just... put it down against one of his legs while the camera switched to Philippa, for Jaskier to pick up later?"

1.Like ok, so the last time we see Radovid holding the lute in that scene, it's in his left hand, and he takes a few steps closer to Jaskier to express how he'd love for him to become his bard and suggest he should totally move in with him already so they can start a new life together talk while momentarily excluding Philippa from the conversation.

2. Jaskier tries to resist the puppy dog eyes play it cool remembering how he attempted to start living with Geralt and offered to become his bard as soon as he started squishing on him; and how, although things eventually did work out between them (and they now have this whole queerplatonic family dynamic going on), maybe he wouldn't have gotten so brokenhearted if he'd taken things with him a bit slower? And adjusted his expectations in accordance with what Geralt was willing or able to offer back then, maybe?, and pretend he's totally not intrigued and aroused by the offer.

3. Radovid steps in even closer to make sure he has all of Jaskier's attention, while attempting to convince him that he would gladly let him tie him up and explore whatever kink he might have one can find plenty of ways to make life at court fun and exciting.

4. Philippa decides to play chaperone, because she's never taken Radovid outside for a walk on her own before, is not 100% sure if the prince has been trained to properly behave in public when he's not at court, knows Jaskier has literally no shame, and she'd rather get between these two now before they are given any opportunity to start making out and humping each other right in the middle of the fucking town's square! to step in closer to issue a few threats, for good measure.

5. Jaskier briefly looks like he's trying to sniff her finds the interruption quite rude and intimidating, yet stands his ground as he is unwilling to let her force him to back away from his prospective mate.

6. Philippa and Radovid , whose brain was so busy making out the shape of Jaskier's body through the very thin fabric of his shirt, that he only took from that whole conversation that he and Jaskier are having a date in five days, take their leave.

7. Jaskier is left trying to catch his breath while dealing with an awkward boner as he watches the prince leave leave, only to be interrupted by Yarpen Zigrin that has apparently just been standing there, silently watching the very rare and fascinating courtship display between a wild bard and a domestic prince...

8. Aaand, as Jaskier turns to greet him, we can catch a brief glimpse of the lute's pegbox that Jaskier seems to now be holding in his right hand. And Yarpen's puzzled, slightly traumatized expression, pondering what on Earth he's just witnessed, and how that complete pansexual disaster of a bard still manages to get laid so often.

Therefore, we can assume that the lute moved from Radovid's left hand to Jaskier's right hand anywhere in between 3 and 4...

But, with the way these two were so engrossed in each other by the time they got close enough to make the exchange, I'm trying to figure out how that went...

Like, try approaching your crush having this very intense conversation with them while continuously holding their gaze...

...and, at the same time, attempt signaling to them that you wish to give them back the object that you are holding, without any of you two looking down to see where the object or the other person's hand is.

There is visually and verbally a complete lack of acknowledgement that anything else is happening between them in that scene! It's uncanny!

Like if I'd been in Radovid's place, I'd probably have been awkwardly bumping the lute against Jaskier's right arm or leg while trying to figure out where his hand actually is; and then waiting to feel a little tug on it to make sure he's holding it securely before letting it go.

If I'd been in Jaskier's place, I'd probably have been trying to make physical contact with any recognizable part of the lute and then followed a path to its neck. Or, if I was feeling particularly bold, touched Radovid's arm and then caressed it all the way down to his hand to go place mine above or below the place where he's holding the lute's neck.

There would have been some slightly noticeable fumbling around involved, one way or another, at the very least.

But somehow, nothing could break the very sustained, sharp, and constant sexual tension focus between them while they were eye fucking each other talking and Radovid managed to give Jaskier back his lute.

These two can go from the awkwardest and most dissynchronized

to the smoothest and most seamless social interactions in a matter of seconds, I swear!

[avelera]

OK, so, I have now seen Good Omens Season 2 and had a moment to muster my thoughts after binging it.

SPOILERS below the cut, if that needed saying.

--

Let's start with the good.

Loved that Beelz/Gabriel became canon. What can I say? I love stories about immortals falling in love over the course of several meetings at a pub ;)

John Hamm in general was fabulous

I cackled at the fact we were getting an actual fem Aziraphale/Crowley, human coffee shop AU running parallel with the absolute fanficciest of justifications that Aziraphale and Crowley HAD to make them fall in love in order to *mumble mumble* something plot whatever, lol

I loved the bits of lore flashbacks we got about Aziraphale and Crowley first meeting when they were both angels and I found the whole Job encounter overall charming.

I was deeply fascinated by the fact that Crowley consistently performed selfless angelic acts while Aziraphale consistently needed to learn and grow around doing the right thing. Even to the end he remained, for the most part, a good little soldier. Aziraphale thinks the system can be fixed. Crowley "knows" that it can't. Presumably, Crowley is right. More on that later.

Muriel was adorable

Loved that we got the kiss. Also, huge shoutout to the fandom that I genuinely went in unspoiled on that front after the whole trailer debacle. I SUSPECTED based on the reactions that the spoiler was a kiss, but I was able to successfully forget all about it so I genuinely gasped when they kissed.

I'm not really all that bummed by the ending. It's so obviously a "temporary breakup so we come back together stronger" moment so I was largely unbothered. I actually want MORE angst, not less, in fic after that, please and thank you.

Unpopular opinion praise for S2, but I'm glad we didn't get more of The Them, or Madame Tracy (though the recasting of the actress in another role puzzled me?) or Anathema/Newt, or any of the non Aziraphale/Crowley, Heaven/Hell stuff. I found all those plotlines hugely boring and I'm glad the story moved on from them.

Did I mention I adored Gabriel/Beelz? Loved that plotline. Might rewatch that bit again just for that. I SORT of suspected it was happening but was still delighted by the confirmation. I couldn't BELIEVE this minor ship got made canon, but along the way I was sort of side-eying Beelz's reactions through the lens of, "Wait, what if Beelz is WORRIED for Gabriel?" and it worked very well so I was tentatively *glad* for the shippers who might view it that way and NEVER guessed they'd make it canon this season with more than a few tidbits for those shippers to cling to. Wow. Whole-ass parallel instead of what Aziraphale and Crowley COULD be if they actually 1) communicated and 2) understood each other's values and valued the same things.

Truly, it was a love letter to the fandom I found that to be very sweet as a choice made by Tumblr Girlie Neil Gaiman.

H'ok, now let's get into the negative. To be clear, I enjoyed the season! A lot of room is left to explore stuff in Season 3! And I'm not a deep Good Omens fandom person, I didn't read much fic after S1 dropped, I was more of a book fandom fic person for it. So my level of investment isn't such that I'm *crushed* by any of this, these are just more things I found a bit "meh"?

I really thought we were heading to a side-swap story about Aziraphale and Crowley and I was little bummed it didn't happen, though there's still room for the possibility in S3. The whole "maybe I did the good thing and you did the bad" taken to the max. I really wanted the angst of them finding each other only to end up on opposite sides again and opposite-OPPOSITE sides of where they'd been and been comfortable up to this point. I really wanted to see IMPACT and SUFFERING and DISCOMFORT and... idk, more drama? Than we got?

Like, there were SO MANY references to Crowley being selfless and doing the RIGHT angelic thing while Aziraphale did a lot of HORRIFYING things, including all the mind-fuckery stuff he did around the ball, totally insensitive to the needs and wants of the humans involved, only seeing them as tools, that REALLY made me wonder if we were getting a swap by the end.

The fact we saw SO MANY ominous references to Aziraphale FALLING because he was tempted by Crowley, over and over, because he questioned God, over and over? I thought something would come of that! I thought Crowley would get through to Aziraphale just in time to have Aziraphale fall and for Crowley to do something truly angelic, to have Aziraphale get through to HIM at the same time so they'd swap sides officially, against their will, the same way Crowley never meant to fall. It seemed like falling was something that COULD HAPPEN TO YOU AGAINST YOUR WILL and I wanted REDEMPTION to work the same way, AGAINST Crowley's will. I wanted them to get absolutely FUCKED by the moment they finally got through to each other and swapped philosophies.

So that was a bummer. Could still happen in S3 but...? I'd be a bit surprised at this point given I think it will instead focus on (*sigh*) averting the Apocalypse again.

I thought the pacing was fucking atrocious. There was so much dead time. So many scenes that were simply *not* needed and didn't add anything. So much meandering script with darlings that desperately needed to be killed for the sake of a snappier story. So much that felt like padding. With a better editor and 2 fewer episodes, I think it would have been a much tighter, better, fast paced show.

S2 recalled with a problem I have with Neil's writing in general - he's a short story writer/comic issue writer at heart. I, personally, am a long-form novel writer. Neil is not great at writing novels, he's a novella/anthology/short story person and it shows when he so often, so consistently, fails to pull a long-form story together in a satisfying way (to me, and this is just my subjective opinion).

It shows up in so many ways with how, in my opinion, S2 seemed to flounder with how to fill 6 episodes. The flashback to the Resurrectionist stuff could have been half as long and I found much of the writing pretty awful and cliche in it.

I liked Aziraphale learning that morality is complex, truly, but that was all I really liked of that bit of flashback and it could have been much shorter. I found everything around Elspeth exasperating and on the nose. It was a short story straight out of a random issue of "The Sandman" and sometimes it really feels like Neil has never managed to break out of the same stories, plots, and themes, with a dash of horror as he did from that era. He's always, always, still just writing either 1) fanfic of another person or mythology's work or 2) an original Sandman short stories/issues with no long-form plot. In his defense, they're always COOL and have an interesting VISUAL or IDEA but these stories aren't very... good? Writing? Or rather, he tends to just do the same things over and over again. Nifty idea that don't actually really *gel* into anything more complex than a single storyline?

I felt the same way about the Nazi Zombie plotline. I found that entire story beat EXCEEDINGLY tedious and pointless except to fill airtime, not to mention a bit gross to watch. I found the Magician Aziraphale plotline in general EXCEEDINGLY pointless and tedious to sit through. I thought it added absolutely nothing and was incredibly dull for 99% of the story.

Everything with Shax was exceedingly tedious and boring to me. The fight in the bookshop felt nonsensical and poorly choreographed. That needed to be a 2x speed to feel any sense of peril or urgency at all, and not knowing where it was going, or if anyone was actually really threatened at all just robbed it of any real sense of tension.

There was just... zero sense in general of important stakes in the Shax storyline or really in the season because there was no Apocalypse to build towards, no event that we knew about to worry about.

The world wasn't ending. Shax didn't seem empowered to actually do anything or hurt anyone. They were just a random action plot for... reasons? To make the climax in the bookshop come together so we could have a Jane Austen ball at the same time as 69 demons (heh) invading? There were so many logical leaps there to make that happen and the pacing/editing being garbage just... robbed it of any feeling of importance except as a time waster of a plotline. The actress is great and all but dear lord was that plotline dull.

A lot of the flashbacks in general just felt like... padding. Yes, we got a bit more Aziraphale and Crowley but they never quite... worked for me in those. It was always pointless STUFF they were doing rather than anything that contributed to the plot or even to my sense of them being in love or working towards becoming a couple! They were just... there, a lot of the time, sitting next to each other.

Some of the script pauses were SO BIZARRE. Like as if they'd just written the script and not realized how bloody often Crowley is given NOTHING TO DO in the background so he just... stands there, waiting for his next line, or taking a nap, or observing random stuff. David Tenant in the Resurrectionist bit with all his theatrics felt, again, pointless and tedious but also the best the poor guy could fucking do to fill out this incredibly boring story with any sort of entertainment. Bless them, the actors worked their ASSES off to get some fun and excitement into huge swathes of this script.

Maggie and Nina's relationship was cute but ENTIRELY pulled off by the actresses, the story was again, incredibly tedious and pointless otherwise, as many coffee shop AUs are in my opinion. Their personal charm elevated the material but it all felt like more stalling tactics with a wink-and-a-nod at fic writers, with this entire season was stretched out to justify, presumably, Aziraphale being in Heaven after being promoted to Archangel while Crowley is on Earth and they're fighting.

Quite frankly, if the "real" sequel, which Pratchett co-wrote, just opens with Aziraphale thinking Heaven's shown up to destroy him, only to promote him on the spot, basically the last scene of S2, you actually don't need 99% of this season at all to get there. In fact, it's a pretty fun comedy beat to do quickly. Basically, "Oh shit, the cops!" then "Actually, we're here to promote you!" and boom, we've reached the same spot as we got to after 6 episodes of S2.

Not that I didn't enjoy many of the character moments! But overall, it felt like stalling for time to make it a trilogy series, since only a few plot threads had any longer term importance to anyone who isn't a fanfic-writing super fan who knows what a coffee shop AU is and can giggle over there being one in the actual show.

Basically, it was very lacking in the strengths of the story that I attribute to Terry Pratchett - like the ability to pull a long-form story together, and certain clever turns of phrase.

There were so many lines where there was a pause where it was as IF they were going to say something clever, and then they just... didn't? And the line was just another cliche or a trail-off of someone mumbling "comedically"? That's where I very much felt Pratchett's absence. It indeed felt like half the writing duo was missing in many ways. And I'm not personally... all that convinced of Neil's chops when it comes to long-form stories or romance, two things that this season kinda relied on pulling off right that I was left feeling pretty tepid about after.

Look, overall, I did like it! I'm really excited for how the fandom will run with what happened and make their own stuff with it. I'm very excited for Season 3, whenever we get it, and the return of Terry Pratchett's fingerprints on the story. I think it's going to be great!

It's not that I think my time was wasted so much as I thought places where *I* would have done things differently, which is not a fair criticism of any work. From a technical perspective, really I just think it needed a tighter script or tighter editing, and they just might not have been able to do that if they were contracted for 6 episodes when they only really needed 3. Oh well. Onward and upward!