#its the most ambitious thing ive done

[theotherseapancakes]

i barfed words about stanza go read them (if u want)

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV, NieR: Automata (Video Game), Drag-On Dragoon | Drakengard (Video Games) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Warrior of Light/Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV) Characters: Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Stanza Valeflower (WoL OC), Krile Mayer Baldesion (Final Fantasy XIV) Additional Tags: Spoilers, Patch 4.0: Stormblood Spoilers (Final Fantasy XIV), Canon-Typical Violence, YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse Questline (Final Fantasy XIV), Not Beta Read, Drag-On Dragoon | Drakengard References Summary:

In that world we once knew, sharp and shattered, a single spark of memory grows to a flame. It shines upon the lost, and at last we understand. Hunger must be sated. Knowledge must be gained.

…

Lives must be protected.

~*~

Hear. Feel. Think.

These command you. You will do that. You will hear their words, and feel their feelings, and think about it. … But you also feel like watching is important to all three. You are rebuilt from the ashes of something terrible into someone new. [ A FFXIVxDrakeNieR perspective on my WoL and his WoL gf/eventual wife because… fuck it, I do what I want. ]

[the-dog-watch]

intro post

HI! I'm Bri (she/they). I'm in my 30s and this is my Aubrey/Maturin sideblog! I don't usually do sideblogs but I made this one both as a writing challenge to myself and to more tidily collect my thoughts about the series as I read. As of right now (June 2023) I'm on book 15 but I'm very laconic about spoilers so don't be shy, hit up the askbox or whatever. Or do be shy, that's fine too. Like Stephen Maturin, the only thing I love more than talking too much is shutting the fuck up and minding my own business and this has left me with a deep abiding respect for all lurkers. You do you.

Anyway, here are some relevant links:

twitter (where i also liveblog occasionally, even more untidily)

recap posts (current goal is to write a small essay/review for each book in the series)

AO3 (no fic for this fandom yet but stay tuned...)

main tumblr (it is what it is)

storygraph (intermittently updated)

[chisatowo]

I love how my first two pmd randomizer teams I characterised them in my head as different flavors of ah goofy and now these new guys are just a bunch of assholes. Just a gaggle of shitheads who think they're better than everyone else. They all hate eachother and think they're the only normal person here. They r also best friends but they do kill eachother on a regular basis.

[mrsackermannx]

chef!sukuna who’s still lower in the rank than he wants to be, but so close to being a sous. tonight is his night to do the night’s special dish, finally. he earned this. he knew that if the head chef just let him, he could create the best dish ever served at this damn place.

so, he does just that.

he’s immediately scolded, the dish uses too many ingredients, the head says. too much to prepare. too ambitious. even though he used all of the left over ingredients from the menu’s usuals. 0% waste, 0% additional cost.

sukuna curses, taking a deeper drag of his cigarette. ���make sure no table gets that shit,” he hears, with his fists clenching at his sides. ill go to the gym after this, he thinks, yeah, punch the fuck out of that bag.

it turns out that only table 8 has the dish, your table. the server messed up and now they’re crying in the back to the porter because they’ve been fired on the spot. “i told you not to fucking take it! have you never done expo-“

sukuna stalks calmly to the shaking waiter, “show me table eight-“ he sighs, levelling the head chef with a glare, sukuna was much larger, much stronger than him, difference in rank or not. he stood down, stalking down the other side of the kitchen with a huff. “ignore him, i wanna see who’s eating my dish, come on, let’s go.”

a reassuring pat to the shoulder from sukuna was almost enough to make him cry even more. sukuna kind of hated everyone.

“just there, chef. the couple, bedside the pillar on the left…its um…her, chef.” he grins, watching how transfixed the normally gruff man is, “your girl heh heh.”

“shut up,” he says, but he smiles a little.

he watches you, sat opposite some guy you hardly look interested in, you’re beautiful, the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen, as always, his eyes are drawn to you, no other woman could compare.

he watches you slice through his dish, the fork at your lips, as soon as it reaches your mouth you make a noise of such rapture, a sudden quiet falls upon the floor of the restaurant.

it’s almost weird how heat rushes low at the sight and the sound, he can’t remember the last time anyone else fired him up like this. he never took himself to have any kind of food fetish, either. yet watching you eat his dishes always seems to be an erotic exchange he never anticipates.

“oh…him? think they’re married?”

“i don’t think so.”

that man seems to hiss at you, eyes on his watch, barely touching his dish. “i wanted pizza downtown, god.”

you shake your hand in dismissal, shoving another forkful in your mouth. “i wanted this, i always want this.”

sukuna let’s out a breathy fuck, and the server practically faints.

no one was immune to sukuna’s charm, then, it seemed.

“oh, fuck, table 7 saw me. fuck, chef ive already been fire-“

“go and give them a reason not to fire you. go, go to your table kid, it’s still yours, right?”

the table beside you seems to have called him over, asking for the same dish you seem to believe has came from heaven, telling anybody who asks.

sukuna can’t help but enjoy the lively affair, as the restaurant manager tries to explain over and over to more and more tables that the chef special has been cancelled. oh, how he loved this little bit of chaos.

“why?” your voice clatters through the cacophony like a piece of silverware on crockery. “this dish is phenomenal, the best ive ever eaten here and in this city, in this country-“

“miss-“

“taste it! can you not taste the hard work? the thought? its the best thing ive ever eaten. the chef who made this has impeccable taste and talent.”

your laughter rings through the place at your partners embarrassment. sukuna is about to pry himself away and head back into the kitchen, leaning on the side of the bar and then…your eyes meet, another forkful is waiting before those glossed lips. another sweet sound of joy rings through the air.

now you see him, huh?

your smile is sweeter than agave, “it’s you.”

your words are lost on everyone around you, but to sukuna he hears them as if you whispered them right against his ear.

sukuna was a tall, broad, and unquestionably handsome man, unmissable out of his chef whites, invisible in them, somehow. obscured by the ambient lighting of the restaurant.

you near him, like a moth to a flame, a sensual air to the way your hips flick toward him. “you-“

the head chef storms through to the restaurant floor, the door slamming you both into the corresponding wall. his large arms wrap around you, his hand cups the back of your head.

he slowly retracts his hand, and your chest rises as you resist the urge to press your cheekbone into his palm, “are you okay?”

his voice is deep and addicting, dark and dripping down your throat.

you’re beaming at him, like he’s an angel, like he’s somebody you already adore. he gifts you a lover’s laugh, “you seem to be the only satisfied person in the building tonight.”

“seems like you’ve satisfied me sir.” you wink, still letting his aura press you into the wall, he cages you in with his arms.

“oh?”

“last thursday. that soup, you made it, didn’t you…?”

“sukuna,” he answers for you, “maybe.”

“seafood special last month?”

“yes, and your name?”

for some reason he’s out of breath, you’re so close, so fancy in your silk dress, clad in jewellery that sparkles even under these dimmed lights. “reader, you…you’re a genius.”

“so you came to thank me personally?” he leans closer, swiping sauce from the corner of your lip. it lingers on his thumb, his eyes chase yours as he licks it. “how sweet of you.”

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

Prodigy Recap

I love it I love it I love it I could watch it forever

I'm truly irrevokably in love. I'm done for. I'm probably going to rewatch this all month before I am satisfied I've fully taken it all in. I NEED to rewatch Mindwalk and Supernova again ASAP because knowing what I know now about the memories HJ had just recovered. I know it is going to wreck me to watch her in those episodes with S2 in mind.

My ship HELD HANDS GUYSSS. HE TOLD HER SHES HIS HOME. HE DIDNT FEEL LIKE HE BELONGED ANYWHERE UNTIL THEY MET. SHE BROKE TIME FOR HIM AGAIN AND AGAIN. HER EYES GOT SO BIG! THAT HUG LOOKED SO GOOD. (I'm getting off topic a lot but i need to get the "my ship is canon - in a way i don't hate!!!" fangirling out of my system.) breathe. breathe. okay gonna keep going.

Its gonna take me a few more watch throughs to fully wrap my head around the paradox. And around how you fit a humpback whale in the original ISS Voyager (seriously. has that been there the whole time? does OG Voyager have a whale? was she retrofitted in the AQ? did Mirror J steal a whale from 1996?) And if that timeline where KJ was lost on the infinity means shes also trapped on future solum with Chakotay or just dead. and and and... so many things. so many fic ideas. so many plot bunnies

(wait no -- shoves the plot bunnies away -- go away. not ready for more wips yet)

There. was. so. much. that I loved. it was such an ambitious story to tell in 2 seasons and oh my god, i really feel they mostly pulled it off. They brought back Voyagers legacy characters and put them to work in a plot that fit them, and it was such a joy to see them again. They stay true to who they were on Voyager - thoroughly wonderfully 100x better than on Voyager in Chakotays case. and i really believe theyre the same characters with a few more years of life since ive last met them.

And the new characters too. I love Dal and Gwyn and Rok and Murf and Zero and Jankom and Maj'el to pieces. (Majel!!! is such a perfect tribute!) I want to see so much more of Noum and Tysses. I am in tears over Adreek. God how much i want Season 3 just to see how their stories continue.

But I think... what strikes me most and what I appreciated the most was how much this show wholeheartedly respects its fans!!!

It never dumbs things down or babies it's younger audience. its very mature for a kids show. it is a great introduction to star trek and the universe without over explaining. there are storylines in these 40 episodes that would be right at home in TNG or Voyager. it's really more of a fun for the whole family show than a kids show in that way. (it says something that it's the first "cartoon" my parents have ever cared for and they are watching it wholely for themselves.) It really manages to tell the story in a framing thats aimed at kids without taking anything away from the story its telling for all ages.

And it's adult audience...

I worried about how it would feel to have enjoyed such a rich fanon universe in the 3 decades since the show ended. There were advantages to having a ship with very little canon. the fan universe thrived on how much room there was to work within. After that - having headcanoned and written and imagined so many futures for the characters - I feared having some new canon come in and make a new story for them that would invalidate so much if that imagination, or create something so unsatisfying or rigid or antithical to their last canon encounter that nothing new would be inspired by it. (P/C in Picard was like that for me)

Prodigy didnt do that. Prodigy made no grand sweeping canon for the years in between Voyagers homecoming and the new show. Prodigy didnt shoe horn any character into a rigid relationship status. Prodigy picked them up, set them on a new adventure, sprinkled in tantalyzing new details, and left a wealth of room around the events of the season and the relationships between the characters for so much fan imagination to thrive. The possibilities before and during and after the seasons for the characters are bountiful and perfect for imagining their other adventures. I couldnt have imagined my ship becoming canon (or maybe affirmed by the canon is a clearer way to put it) in a better way.

And then they went and added Tank Top Action Janeway in there as a treat.

Truly a masterpiece. i'm so grateful for this show. i hope it gets the 3rd season it so dearly deserves.

[leolingo]

(long post about purgatory and meta and rp)

sigh one thing ive been thinking is that it feels a bit unfair to see so many people complaining or doomposting over how purgatory affects the overarching qsmp rp story or how it ~interrupted arcs~ or is ~disturbing current storylines~ or ~narratively unsatisfying~ like. Sure. its a bit abrupt and most players were caught off guard because lore-wise it stems from the federation which means none of them were told about anything beforehand

but... its only been three days. maybe we could have a little faith? like idk ill be soooooo out there rn and say that maybe the admins did this now for a reason. maybe itll make sense later on. we already see lore repercussions with elquackity and his motives and all the nods to the eggs.

theres fair criticism to be made (when done respectfully) if youre mainly here for the roleplay but i feel like we sometimes need to remind ourselves that the qsmp storytelling is a VERY ambitious project. lmao. imagine being the writing team and trying to wrangle 20+ characters with distinct points of view and journeys on an ever-changing story because of the very nature of live rp. its practically IMPOSSIBLE to tie up every loose end neatly and at this point i dont think we should expect that. keeping up momentum with all plotlines must also be pretty hard, cc's schedules and outside factors like server programming and building and mod tweaking and all those meta elements considered and so on and so on

i DO also want the story to move forward and be cohesive and make sense in a satisfactory way. like i really do!!!!!!! but i try to understand that thats not ALL the qsmp is about. from the start quackity said the server wouldn't be exclusive to the rp aspect. it sure is that way right now, but thats because most of the active members are VERY passionate about roleplaying. thats a good thing! they have fun and its fun to watch and the experience is mostly good for everyone because it corresponds to their expectations to an extent

the thing about purgatory is that i feel like its a lot more meta than most people doomposting realize. it ties into the story, sure, but to me it feels like the sudden switch in environment and vibes and stakes isnt actually catered to the rp and thats FINE. like thats not what it exists for and thats fineeeeeee

pac for one has said he appreciates the event for the change of pace, though its very hard (lol), because regular qsmp was starting to feel a bit stale to him and he was kind of running out of things to do. THATS A GREAT THING! managing player engagement like that is awesome and sometimes necessary. YES, purgatory caters to a very different playstyle than what we're used to -- and thats one of its strenghts.

a lot of hispanic creators have also felt this!!!! roier, rivers and carre most prominently have been VERY excited about this event because its similar in format to a lot of spanish speaking events like mc extremo and such. a lot of these players are also not particularly interested in rp-ing and had not been logging on very often prior to purgatory.

even roleplay regulars like tubbo, fit and bbh have shown interest in purgatory for the competitive nature of the setting!!! thats cool too!!!! something different, new possibilities to play around with. thats what the events should be about. kudos to the admins and dev teams for attempting it in such a big scale. their effort shows and all the mechanics weve seen are really fucking cool

i love the roleplay!!!!!! its one of my favorite parts of the qsmp!!!!!! but its not ALL there is and it shouldnt be! non rp-oriented creators are also part of the project and deserve to have a little fun too -- not to mention a big chunk of the hispanic fan community that has blown up twitter with support bc what we have rn is similar to events they already love!!!!!!! im glad to see so many of them get excited again!!!!!!

at the end of the day, qsmp is a LONG long term project, and purgatory ends in two weeks. by the time its over, we can all choose to engage with it as we wish. it can be a big filler episode in your mind, if you want. it can be just for fun..... otherwise, if its not fun, your regularly scheduled qsmp will be back soon anyway :3 its fine to not like it, its fine to have something negative to say about it if properly tagged and not like. crazy entitled or blown out of proportion for what this situation is.

i just hope we can all manage our online experiences accordingly and avoid making things less enjoyable for each other. this is supposed to be fun

[omegalomania]

ive got a one free sincere poetical diatribe coupon that expires this week so im cashing it in on waxing lyrical about my favorite band for a minute cause im stupidly sleep deprived and its gonna be a long night so

the thing is this.

the thing is that maybe there isnt quite magic in this world but theres something to be said for the pure unfettered serendipity of a million little things conspiring to have certain peoples paths cross and the way this can change entire worlds. maybe i dont believe in magic but i believe in the unshakable fucking certainty that a 17 year old joe trohman had when he met a 17 year old patrick stump in a bookstore by sheer chance and listened to his demos and Knowing that he should sing despite patrick not being a singer and not particularly wanting to sing. i believe in the stone cold rock solid belief this kid had in this other kids voice to the point where he dragged his buddy over to his house to prove he had the pipes they needed. i believe in pete wentz hearing patrick stump sing in person for the first time and realizing wait, yeah, actually hes our golden fucking ticket. i believe in the last second just before patrick was about to get on the kit to record the drums for take this to your grave, andy hurley comes swinging in fresh from recording an ep with another band and knocking out every drum part damn near flawlessly. i believe in a band of scrappy dumb punk kids who grew up in the suburbs of the midwest and took over the world and didnt plan for any of it to get as big as it did. i believe in this weird fucking band with their weird fucking idiosyncrasies, this band of four guys who dont look like they should be friends let alone making music together: a heavily tattooed vegan straightedge beefcake drummer, the ambitious visionary bassist with the 50-megawatt grin, the tattoo-sleeved lanky guitarist with an inescapable rock 'n roll bent, the pixie-pale and painfully anxious frontman with the voice of a soul singer.

i believe theres a special kind of chemistry that only makes sense with the four of them, together. its the guy with the visuals and the words, this bassist who was supposed to be a lawyer or a star soccer player but instead crafts stories from the narratives he crafts in his head. its this guitarist with his love for the interleaving of sounds and ability to seamlessly jump from front-facing to incredibly restrained and his indelible blues-rock momentum. its this singer who never intended to sing but whose soaring, clear tenor is so utterly distinct that he quickly became one of the most iconic and versatile vocalists in the genre, if not in the world of music in general. its this hardcore drummer who pulls everything together and forms the throbbing heartbeat of the band, whose grit-edged metalcore backbone not even the poppiest of all pop choruses can truly file away.

i believe in this: andy hurley's unshakable faith that the band would reform during the hiatus, despite all evidence to the contrary. patrick stump writing the song that would become "miss missing you" for his solo record but then setting it aside because it didnt feel like it was for him, again, despite every indication that for all anyone knew, fall out boy was done for good. pete wentz, moved by a miserable blog post from his split-up bands singer, reaching out and sparking what was unheard of, especially for bands like them - a renaissance, a successful resurgence, and one of the best comebacks any musical act can say theyve had in decades. joe trohman picking up the phone and preparing to tell patrick stump that he wasn't ready to go back and do the band again if he wasn't going to be writing music, only for patrick to take the words out of his mouth and insist that he should be writing more and he was too talented a writer for them not to allow him space for that.

i believe in the little things. i believe in a band that was never expected to last a summer but has become an indelible part of music history, naysayers be damned. i believe in the unique chemistry of four guys who have no monetary or logistical reason to continue doing this thing aside from the fact that they love it so - they love the process of creating with one another, and they love the car crash hearts whose hearts beat in sync with theirs. i believe in joe listening to the first pass of "fake out" exactly once, picking up an acoustic guitar, and walking into record the instrumentation that ultimately pulled the entire song together in one take without thinking twice about it. i believe in andy simply knowing that "heaven, iowa" would make the final cut of the record despite patricks reticence and his not knowing how to make the song something he could say he was proud of. i believe in pete pouring some of his most vulnerable feelings into his, fearful of how well they will be accepted but making that leap nonetheless, only for the crowds to sing every single word back to him.

maybe theres no such thing as magic or fate and maybe theres no point. but i think of stardust. i think of four guys who poured so much love and time into this record and named it for stardust and i think of them as this: fistfuls of cosmic dust who all sprang from the same etiology. i think of them and its a romantic fucking notion but i allow myself this, i entertain the thought that when the cosmos formed and the detonation of planets and the dissolution of comets created that far-flung scatter of so much (for) stardust, that starry residue liberally dotting the broad span of the black, the four of them all came from the same origin point and like magnets ended up snapping together and thats the way theyve stayed. for years. for decades.

what i guess im trying to say is this: when the universe formed we all came from stardust and we will all return to stardust and i cant help but wonder if those four guys all came from the same stardust too.

like i said. its a romantic fucking notion. i believe in the little things though. and you know what they say about believers (never die).

[alphabetboyluvr]

Ok so I saw that long ass post that anon sent you about the vote thing on Wattpad, and while I don’t agree with some of what they said where they told you what to do (which they shouldn’t have done, they were rude) I do actually agree with them where they said people don’t tend to look at the votes when deciding whether or not to read a story. I actually think the whole vote thing is just something only authors care about, not readers.

As an avid reader on Wattpad, I do give votes just because authors like it- but I don’t actually give a shit about how many votes a story has when I’m looking for my next story to read. I look at the number of views- which I think you’ll find most readers do, even though the view count can be skewed.

Either way, I do think the whole vote thing should be taken off Wattpad as to the majority of readers, they really don’t care about it and it doesn’t give a good representation of how good a story is

I've been thinking about this all a lot ever since the last anon came in. I'll probably avoid answering questions about this topic again, but there does seem to be disconnect between the writer and reader standpoint, so I'll try and explain my thoughts as best I can without waffling for ages lol

my answer is to this ask, but also to the topic in general, and thoughts I've had regarding that last anon.

it's a really difficult topic to discuss because wattpad has an algorithm that is never really explained to writers. i cant say its important because xyz - i can just give you my own experience. ive been on wattpad for 11 years and have seen it through many changes. i used to use the activity tab to find new stories, and i honestly think getting rid of that was detrimental to the user experience tbh.

as it stands, we don't know what the algorithm favours, so we have to do what we can.

and what can we do? we can tag our work, we can acquire reads and votes, and then we can do more laborious things such as entering award books run by other users and engaging with our readers in various ways.

the tag system, and trending stories under those tabs, are really skewed. for instance, I don't think any of my stories have ever made it onto the fanfic tab, nor have I ever ranked highly under tags despite having really engaged readers and metrics which would suggest I would be.

so, unlike what the last anon said, my stories haven't always been 'out there'. word of mouth, and some stroke of luck tiktoks, are what's pushed them more than anything. so in that way, yeah the desire for votes is flawed—but personally I don't think read count is indicative of quality. if we're thinking about it from a marketing standpoint and conversion rates etc, votes a far more indicative of quality and I'd rather be known for quality over quantity.

the last anon also specifically noted the number of reads/follows I have on wattpad, and suggested that I shouldn't care because those numbers are high—which, respectfully I disagree with. if I didn't care in the early days, I wouldn't have pushed myself to make it to where i am. you can't just expect me to switch off that part of my personality. I'm ambitious and I really care about the things I create.

my girliepop oc's tend to have ambitious streaks and personal goals that they work hard for. they take after their mother, in that sense.

i think what confuses me the most is why it irks people, when you boil it down. its a tap on the screen for readers—and having just uploaded an 11k chapter that took hours to write, to edit, to craft, only to then be told its not worth it? i dunno man, it's just mean lol.

you can think these thing by all means, but don't come into my space just to be cruel. sometimes it okay to keep your opinions in your group chats.

the system is flawed, but I don't think you can blame a gal for just trying to work with it in the only way she knows how

[triglycercule]

this might be the most ambitious perspective ive done and its not even that damn hard. its literally just the foot/leg looking bigger. anyways sequal (AND TRIQUAL) for that little dust thingy i drew because i cannot make content of one mtt member and not the rest. here are my absolutely shitty sketches! theyre actually so bad its literally just a stick figure i dont know how i always turn this into art

and then i have a cute idea for a comic for dream and then a little thingy thingy for nightmare too. jk au RULES i have SO much motivation for drawing. me when i get to draw the cute adorable sweet things my heart ACHES for

[trainingdummyrabbit]

8, 10, 24, 32 for the oc asks meme :0?

:D hihi haiii, aye aye boss!!

8. Is there a certain song or playlist of songs you have that make you think of an OC/your story for them?

LONG INHALE . OKAAAAAY. ^_^ here i go !!

take me back to eden + ascensionism sleeptoken.... yeahg rose+wolfe posting again. its pretty much just these snippets of each but . head in my fucking HANDS.

also for them, snippet from grapes jamesmarriott. dont. worry about it. dont WORRY about it dontworry about it dont <33 dontworry. ONE DAY.

also bc its on my mind and i have t bring them up whenever i think abt them, there's nobody and your favorite color are inigo+lilli songs; skewed respectively. ifeel it in my soul ok. yuh, thumbsup ^_^

10. Do any of your OCs contain any symbolism in themselves/their story?

already answered !! id give another, but nobody really has any definitive Symbols necessarily, since theyre mostly just kinda.. Them. like there Could be some, but as of right now, nobody really has anything particularly interesting ^_^

32. What's been the most ambitious project you've made/are making surrounding your characters?

head in hands. girlies who r in animatic hell (<- The Me) I MIGHT. ONE DAY. OK. I MIGHT. um um though, as a kind of aside, i havent talked abt them literally At All, but i have been tossing around trying to (at least script) a lobcorp rpgmakergame, focused just after the end of lc. potion of Oops ! Your Facility Collapsed With You Inside It. Objective: Survive. i dont have anything i particularly want to say or express with it just yet, but i think about them every so oft... mayb one day.

24. Are there any preexisting characters that your OC gets compared to a lot?

oh hang on doing this one last bc i can make this really funny. nobodys done it other than me, but still, im in hell and im allowed to complain.

(^ ive been looking for an excuse t put these somewhere for ages. ok.) its just . head in hands. so like i read wonderlab AFTER making these guys, is the thing, and then theres th rat god + luci thing which im Still not over.... .. heathcliff. oh and um, this too i guess

[trashbag-usa]

DO YOU LIKE CHARLES DICKENS?

DO YOU LOVE MUSICALS AND HATE CAPITALISM??

DO YOU NOT GIVE A SHIT THAT IT'S LITERALLY SPRING RIGHT NOW AND LOGICALLY AN INAPPROPRIATE TIME TO WATCH A CHRISTMAS MOVIE???

THEN PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GO WATCH ESTELLA SCROOGE TODAY.

I AM A RABID CHRISTMAS CAROL (book) FAN AND IM IN LOVE WITH THIS RIGHT NOW. IT'S A MODERNIZED ADAPTATION THAT ACTUALLY GETS THE POINT OF THE ORIGINAL TEXT.

MORE CONTEXT AND PLEADING BELOW

ITS A CHRISTMAS MUSICAL MADE OVER QUARANTINE ONE DAMN ACTOR AT A TIME IN A CGI ENVIRONMENT. ITS LITERALLY INSANE HOW MUCH EFFORT IS PUT INTO THIS THING. THE EDITING IS FANTASTIC FOR THE CRAZY AMBITIOUS THINGS THEYRE TRYING TO DO. YOU CAN SEE THE CARE AND HEART POURING OUT OF EVERY FRAME.

IF YOU'RE A THEATER KID (former or current) YOU WILL RECOGNIZE QUITE A FEW VOICES AND FACES.

ITS ALSO SILLY AND GOOFY IN THE MOST SINCERE WAY. DO YOU LIKE FUN TROPES DONE WITH AN ACTUAL HEART? YOU WILL LOVE THIS. THERES A FOUND FAMILY, GUYS.

THEY ALSO HAVE SOME OF THE MOST WILD DIALOGUE SOMETIMES, LIKE—

"Every moment of my life since we met has been full of you. You've been in every view ive ever seen since then.

In the clouds, in the light, in the darkness. In the sea, in the woods, in the streets.

'Til the day I die, you'll always be a part of my character. Part of the little good in me, and part of the bad."

??? THAT FUCKING KILLED ME DEAD INSTANTLY

PATRICK PAGE IS IN THIS YALL, (hear that, hadestown fans?? hunchback musical stans?? jingle jingle jingle-)

HE PLAYS A FUCKED UP DANDY AND HE DOES THIS.

I HAD TO MAKE THAT GIF BY MYSELF BC NOBODY KNOWS ABT THIS.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY GO AND WATCH IT RIGHT NOW IF ANY OF THIS INTERESTS YOU. OR IF YOU THINK IT WILL BE DUMB. I WATCHED IT BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE DUMB BUT IT TURNED OUT FUCKING FANTASTIC.

ITS FREE ON YOUTUBE RIGHT NOW!!!! GO GO GO!!!!!!!!!

OR GO TO THEIR WEBSITE FOR OTHER OPTIONS!!!

[forgottenvalentina]

The Basics:

MBTI: (take a test here) ESTJ-T (i originally thought of her as ENTJ-T but this is interesting bc honestly i ~do think as ive written her she's evolved!!)

Executives are excellent organizers, unsurpassed at managing things – or people.

Enneagram: (take a test here) Type 3

People of type Three are very ambitious, efficient, and goal-driven. That’s because their personality is built on the belief that you are only valuable if you’re the best at everything you do. They work hard to earn the love and admiration of others. To do that, they have become good at turning off their emotions to get the job done and power through. But sooner or later, they struggle with having a clear picture of who they are apart from their achievements.

The positive can-do attitude of type Three is often tremendously inspiring. Their effortless charm makes them incredibly persuasive. People of this type inspire you to be more, to do more, to dream bigger.

Zodiac: (take a test here) Virgo

The results are in. You’re stable, realistic, and grounded—AKA, a total Earth sign. As a Virgo, you’re humble, hard-working, and extremely caring. You’re the logical, level-headed friend in your circle, and you’re the one everyone knows they can count on.

(ok but the video game question SENT me valentina playing nintendo switch is the most priceless visual -- also im taking all of these as Valentina would and omg so interesting!! she def sees herself as the model citizen i swearrr)

And, for fun, what House would your character be in? 

Hogwarts House? (take a test here) Slytherin (i know...astonishing! heehee)

"Or perhaps in Slytherin you'll make your real friends. Those cunning folks use any means to achieve their ends."

Welcome to Slytherin House. This house pushes you to achieve your full potential. Even though Slytherin gets a bad reputation for producing Dark witches and wizards, all of Slytherins are rotten apples.

Game of Thrones? (take a test here) Tyrell

From what I've been told, y'all are really clever and insightful leaders! With a motto like "growing strong," it's evident that you're a person who is made for battle and life's obstacles. You don't necessarily kill your enemies with vengeance — you kill them with kindness, instead. Now, prepare for war as you face off against the other houses!

(I highkey agree w her being a tyrell!! but not uhhh this vision of it aslkdfjksdf)

Velorum Nocate? (take a test here) Quasar!

(it wouldn't let me view the description, alas! so i did my own, since i know we weren't all in vn:) you walk into every room like god sent you -- because you are a god, just like your holy ancestors before you! house quasar expresses its power through absolute control, and must never be questioned by anyone, but you won't hesitate to show your swift and brutal wrath should anyone prove so idiotic. the galaxy is your birthright, and don't let a damn fool forget it!

(tbh she'd be ~thrilled w this result and she's defff got some strong quasar mindsets like her entitlement, and i did fill this out like she would, but i think she's more of a tark or molec tbqh -- she's got that scheming thing down to a tee!)

Of Dragon Riders? (take a test here) self perception: godiva/moran/barret -- actual fact: arrington/godiva [ here ]

again, i know not everyone was in this rp, so i'll sum it up by saying...you can get a sense of each of these houses by reading through the options listed in the link, but using lfr as our yardstick, id say that being a godiva/arrington is probs closest to being...a varmont probs? they're rival royal houses and mandess runs in the arrington line which prompted the godivas to conquer them and yeah its just a big mess!!

the morans and barrets don't really have a natural comparison i can think of really here, but barret's a military/marcher lord sort of thing and the morans are...scheming, backbiting, powerhungry, and cold alskdjfklsjdfkd

Cowboy, Knight, Fairy, or Angel? (take the test here) Angel! [SCREAM]

[unlimitedtrees]

talkin' about the largest level from my game, 'UNITRES Dreams' , called ~DREAMSCAPE DISTANCE - SECTION 2~

hello. today i want to talk about the level 'Dreamscape Distance - Section 2' from the game i made, 'UNITRES Dreams'. this level is one of the largest levels i've ever made in any of my games, and it's something i'm really proud of and want to talk a little bit about. so click the read more thingy if you wish to learn more about it,,

also , By The Way, play da on newgrounds ehehehehe ~! or u can download it on itch.io too if you want

the version of this level in the final version of the game is one of the most ambitious things ive ever done and is something im Really proud of. to sum it up... it is the largest level in the entire game, with tons of paths and secrets, with there being things you can only find once in the level in Very Specific places. it was one of the last levels to be completed, and it's one of my favorites. but before i can get into the specifics... i want to first talk about its history.

when development of unitres dreams began, it was a much slower paced game, with the controls being a lot more simplistic and level design being more focused on linear platforming against enemies that constantly shoot bullets at you. both 'sections' of dreamscape distance were completely different early in development, having a different tileset and level layouts.

dreamscape distance - section 2 at this time was a lot more basic than the one in the current version of the game. it was linear and didnt have a whole lot of stuff going on. in fact, when i first invisioned it, it wasn't supposed to be anything. it was kind of just another city level where at the end you fight against the spaghetti monster you just created in a cutscene in the last level. there was One other thing i had in mind when i first created the level, but unforunately it was cut from the final game. i was planning on having there be puzzles in this level which youd solve using the party swapping mechanic. each character would have separate traits which would be used in the puzzle. i dont remember fully what the puzzles would have been like, but i think you wouldve had to the '??????' character to punch the 'trees' character across the room. sadly, at that time of development i originally gave myself a deadline of having the entire game come out on may 9, which was like less than 3 months from when i started development on the game. So, with me having little time to come up with the planning and programming and artwork for an entire puzzle section in One level, i decided to just remove it. this meant that the party swapping mechanic in the final game had a lot less purpose than what i hoped it would have... but oh well.

one idea i Tried to implement from the very beginning of the level's conception was the flying car gimmick... i wanted to have a set piece where you're flying through buildings and ships, shooting enemies with bullets and having the spaghetti boss fight be a bullet hell fight... but Well...

not only was the car itself kind of messy, but the spaghetti boss ended up being really disappointing for me. since the screen's size was really small, there wasnt a whole lot of room for you to move around in. not only that, but i couldnt really do any complex attacks from the boss, as all the bullets took up a lot of space on screen and you couldnt really see things coming ahead. so, all of the boss's moves are very basic and either incredibly easy to dodge or incredibly annoying to dodge.

so yea. i was really disappointed overall with the game back then. so, i then decided to completely change the gameplay to be more fast paced, have more movement abilities, and have more open levels with things to do. i also decided on completely remaking most of the old levels, with both of the Dreamscape Distance sections being entirely remade with new art, level design, and gimmicks. i wanted the new levels to be prettier, more fun to go through, and to leave a really good first impression. Dreamscape Distance - Section 1 was one of the first levels i remade (and i might have a lot to talk about it later... we'll see!), but Dreamscape Distance - Section 2 was one of the last levels to be finished, as at first i wasnt sure what i wanted to do with it yet.

But Then, i finally realized what i wanted to do with it, and i spent like a whole entire month dedicated to making it the most largest level ive Ever made... i wanted it to be a sort of magnum opus for me. i wanted this level to leave a lasting impression on you at the very beginning of the game. I spent Days working on just the level collision Alone, and took even longer putting in all the artwork and objects. the level even got updated multiple times to add even More stuff to it after the game came out...

and well, im not sure if other people feel the same about it, but for me it is one of my favorite levels in the whole game. im gonna talk about it now.

first off, i wanna talk about the inspirations for the level. i wanted to turn it from a simple "city area" into a whole mall area. i wanted it to feel Huge and dreamlike, so a lot of it is inspired by my own personal memories of an old mall i used to go to when i was young. one Specific thing i can bring up is the air balloons area that appears at the beginning of the level...

you see, the mall i used to go to had this sort of sculpture thing of a cartoony air balloon in the clouds... i dont remember much of it but i wanted to include something like it in the level. it's something you can Easily miss, but just before you encounter the first POLYCAR section, you can find a bunch of large air balloons floating above, and you can even bounce on the balloons like large bumpers.. it is such a specific set piece that only appears at this specific part of the level that i love so much. my only wish is that i spent more time on the art for the balloons themselves,, theyre kind of just a repeating tile set, but it is what it is.

that area is actually full with even More specific things you can only find there. just below where the balloons are, there is an entire part of the level where you can find two hidden NPCs if you go down far enough... i wont say who one of them are, but i Will tell you about the 'Vie' character...

when you first talk to her, she will give trees all of her flowers so that they can spread them all across the levels. every level from then on will have flowers placed All Over. it is such a small detail that i loved implementing, and it's something you can Only find in one incredibly easy to miss area. That is kind of what the whole spirit of the game is for me and what i want to implement in my future works,, the idea of there always being something new to find,, i wanted it so you can just get Lost in this level and find something weird to do. i may not have been able to accomplish a Whole lot with this (due to me being the Only developer working on this in my spare time), but i am really proud of what i managed to accomplish with this game...

Anyways, speaking of NPCs, this level has the Most NPCs out of every level in the game, and some of them are in Incredibly Specific places. a lot of the NPCs are actually cameos from my close friend's OCs, and im really happy they let me include their characters as little secrets in my silly little game. my Only regret is that i didnt get to create as many original characters as i wanted (as making the NPC sprites along with dialogue portraits and writing takes Longer Than You Think), but i at least was able to implement the clown trio in Chaotic Carnival... which is a story for another day...

So , after the room with the balloons, you enter the first area with the 'POLYCAR'. the design is a Lot simpler... just a diamond that moves around, but i like it a lot more than the old design, and it even controls better too. one of the important changes i made to the new version of the car is that the screen actually zooms out when you enter it, this allowed me to make the car sections more larger and for the spaghetti boss to actually be Good and like an actual bullet hell. But Anyways...

after the first POLYCAR section, you are dropped into an area with two SAVE points, along with a sign in the middle that tells you that that there's a left and right path you can take. these signs were something added later on in an update as a sort of easier way of adding more NPCs into the level without actually designing a new character, and i really like them. i managed to add a lot of these in a bunch of random spots, and while i am not proud of most of my writing, i Really like some of the stuff i wrote for these signs. they're Interesting.

so, something that only this level does is there's a left and right path which takes you to entirely different parts of the level. the left path has a few level gimmicks that dont appear at any other part in the level and is also a faster path to take, while the right path is Large and has tons of NPCs and set pieces that you skip by taking the left path. this is something ive Always wanted to, from even as far back as my old fangames, but always been afraid of doing as in a lot of cases, players will just get Lost when you make the level go in a direction that Isn't just a straight path forwards. Luckily, i think this kind of level design worked here, as the left path is a Little more linear and easy to get through compared to the right path. the left path is also more crazier, with you having to go Down, then right and then left again. so it's probably a bit more confusing, but the few playthroughs ive seen of it seem to understand it after a bit, so i think it worked out.

the left path i wont get into too much, as i think it's better for you to experience for yourself. i Will say that there's a window sprite you can find there that doesnt appear anywhere else in the level. i wanted that part of the level to feel more like a City than the rest of the level, but i didnt get to do as much with it due to time. it's still pretty neat, though. the left path is generally focused on straight Gameplay, while the right path (which is the one most people take) has a lot more Things to do.

for one, the right path is very Vertical, with tons of little areas you can find. i wanted to make the right path look like a bunch of shops, but while i didnt get to make too much art for it, you can find things such as tiny cash registers and shelves, along with scrolling walls with hearts, stars, and diamonds on them. there are, of course, Tons of NPCs and signs you can find here.

one specific NPC i'll tell you about is the 'Stealth' NPC, who is based off my friend stealth's squirrel character. just to the right of him, you can find a swimming pool which appears Nowhere Else in the level, along with a polygonal palmtree. something else you can find which only appears on the right path are escalators which move you upwards... these are also inspired by the old mall, and while i wish i couldve designed better artwork for them, i just like that theyre there.

there's a lot of specific gimmicks and areas in the right path that you can just Miss by only going one way. i dont think i will reveal every single NPC and secret in this level as i think it's best to find it yourself, but i Will say that at the very bottom of the right path you can find a hidden area with a hidden sign and NPC..

last specific little thingy about the level ill get into is that, at the end of the level you exit the mall and the background turns into a bright night sky with an ocean full of little flowers. i have nothing much to say about this other than it's pretty. also at the end of the level i tried doing a little thing where you have to go right and then left and the up and right again to get to the end, which is something i tried carrying over from the old level. idk if it worked out well but i like it anyways LOL!

so. now that ive talked about all the specific parts of the level that make me love it a lot, let me get into the Issues with this level. you see, it being large is a Curse. with it being the largest level in the game with the most objects in it, it lags like Hell. at least for me, anyways. on both of my computers it runs at like, 40 fps during most of the level, and at like 30 fps and the very end of the level. Now, i have seen people run the level at 60 fps... id imagine youd need a good pc to actually run it at full speed. but it isnt too slow for me that it's Unplayable.. and my computers arent exactly Powerful.. so i cant imagine how this level plays on a computer that is Worse. there's nothing i can really do about it. the lag is kind of the only thing that prevents me from replaying this level a billion times, especially since it Also takes awhile to load the level. it's a small price to pay for ambition...

my last real problem with the level is that i wish i could do even More with it. theres so much i wish i could add to it to make it feel even more alive,, such as making the "shops" feel like Actual Shops. i designed the level collision first before anything, so there are a lot of things i had in mind that i never got to fully detail with the artwork. my biggest fear with adding more art is that id make the level lag even More.. which is something i dont want to do. i think the big culprit for the lag is the scrolling walls with the hearts and stars on them... You See, i am Stupid and dont know how to make proper effects in construct 2... and the tiled background object type which is good for the sort of repeated texture that is used in the game can Not be animated.. so in order to pull off the scrolling animation, i made a 32x32 object with a bunch of frames for the animation and just. Copied that object a billion times. so there are Thousands of instances of this object all across the level. so yeah, that is very bad and dumb of me and i probably couldve done something way better. idk.

overall, even if i didnt manage to fully go all the way with the level, im still really proud of what i managed to do with it and the level is really important to me. i think the only time ive managed to Somewhat surpass it so far was with the level in the demo for my game 'TREES' ADVENTURE', which i tried making just as large and open as this level, along with having tons of secrets. That level i will probably have to talk about another time, but for now i'll say that while it is probably one of my most polished and prettiest levels ive Ever made, i still wish i couldve done more with it and also it just doesn't have as much going on as Dreamscape Distance - Section 2 does.

so yea. dreamscape distance - section 2 is one of the most prettiest levels ive ever made and is absolutely massive. if you're a freak for Sonic CD like me, i dare you to play it and spend as much time as you want in it, exploring for all the secrets. it may not be a Whole lot, but you might find something really neat. i hope someday someone could appreciate the weird stuff ive made the same way i have, but also i'm just fine with having this level even exist. there isn't anything like it.

that's All, play unitres dreams on newgrounds dot com EHEHHEEHE !!

[youngpettyqueen]

I currently cant draw and won't be able to for a while so in the meantime please take this gal I was brainstorming over the other day. she is, in case you couldnt tell, the result of all the thinking I was doing about non-Trill hosts to symbionts

details under the cut-

in case the text isnt very legible, it reads-

Lieutenant Ethyr Bel

Andorian (joined w/ symbiont)

She/Her

Security Officer (Enterprise-D)

First Lieutenant

Ethyr was perfectly content living a completely average life. she was never the most ambitious person, perfectly happy with just being noticed, given the occasional praise from bridge crew, that sort of thing. she made friends easily- her best friend was Vozra Bel, the two met at the academy and were joined at the hip, practically inseparable

then the crash happened. a routine mission went wrong, and Ethyr and Vozra were involved in a massive shuttle crash. both were injured, but Vozra was critical- she wasn't going to make it. but the symbiont inside her could, if it could be put into a host quick enough. Bel would never survive the long trip to the Trill homeworld. so... Ethyr volunteered. begged to have the symbiont put in her. she didnt care that it had never been done on record, that it might not even work, she had to try. even if all she did was buy the symbiont enough time to get to Trill, that would be enough

well... it worked. it was highly experimental, it was desperate, and it worked. Bel took to Ethyr. suddenly, Ethyr had entire lifetimes flooding into her head. suddenly, she could feel Bel inside of her, shifting and squirming around her guts. suddenly, Ethyr- unambitious, perfectly content Ethyr- was someone, and something, entirely new

calling it a difficult adjustment is an understatement. Ethyr easily takes Bel as her last name, but thats about the only easy thing there is about this. for months shes nauseous, debilitated by constant aches and pains as Bel moves around her body and gets used to it. the memories are overwhelming, they give her chronic headaches, sometimes getting as bad as migraines that keep her in bed for days. the brain fog is terrible. every morning she has to remember who she is. sometimes she forgets, and introduces herself with the wrong name, or doesnt answer to her own. sometimes she forgets shes Andorian. everything is a lot, all the time, and she does her best to manage it all. she doesnt regret her choice, and she'd do it again in a heartbeat, but still. its a lot

theres some silver linings, of course. one day she will adjust fully. until then, she has a newfound sense of connection because of her symbiont. she has these lives shes connected to, her past lives, who are there for her every step of the way. she has Vozra again, in her heart, in her memories, in her soul. she enjoys some of these new developments since becoming joined with Bel- she likes that she can play some instruments, now. that she enjoys spicy food. that she knows Vulcan martial arts, and is good at it. sure, its a lot, and its often overwhelming and debilitating, but there are still things to love. on the days where she can, shes always trying to find more things to love

anyways yes this is Ethyr and ive only had her for a few days but I love her dearly

[tschulijulesjulie]

TW: SA/ rape

a way too long (sorry) analysis of the SA scene in Captive Prince, or my thoughts on aforementioned quote

so people keep criticising how Laurent SA'd Damen and then later they become lovers and that is obviously a valid concern.

tbh ive been struggling to explain this scene for quite some time. the lashing scene is explainable (which is not the same as excusable!) once you know Laurent knew of Damens real identity - hes trying to get his revenge in that scene.

so what is the SA scene about? is he still trying to get revenge? was the lashing his punishment for killing Auguste and the SA now is to punish Damen for the SA Laurent had endured from the regent?

i think in a way it is, metaphorically - BUT it also isn't because Laurent actually doesn't want it to happen (which i will explainin a second but it makes such a difference!).

the lashing was clearly planned and orchistrated by Laurent (i already talked about the bath scene in more detail) - the SA isn't.

he takes Damen to the garden to make an impression on Herode and also so he learns about the Akielon slaves (if i remember correctly).

he gets surprised by Vannes, Berenger and Ancel turning up. until then, there no problem.

So Vannes would like to see Damen perform. she is imo the only one out of the people present who actually wants that. im not entirely sure but i do think she kind of doesn't understand the concept of slavery. Veretians dont have slaves and relationships - or rather contracts - with pets are mostly consensual (i say mostly because yk Nicaise and so on)

so then there is Berenger, who... well, i feel like he kinda doesn't want to be there at all and is totally uninterested in Damen and the entire proceedings of this situation lmao (maybe even a little displeased or alienated but he doesn't show it and thats whats important here!!!)

and then there is Ancel, who is a very ambitious pet as we learn in his short story. and as such he obviously trys for the princes attention (why wouldn't he? and i mean - it works in a way, doesn't it?) and the only way he knows how to get attention like that is to sell himself sexually - like he even only got to the palace because he was daring and cunning in the ring and made an impression on the most influential person present. hes just trying to do that again.

and last but not least theres Laurent. (well theres actually also Erasmus present and obviously Damen, but thats not important rn because neither of them has a say in this situation, again thats an entirely different problem but we know Laurents standing on slavery)

so what Laurent is currently dealing with is his lack of alliances. his uncle has the support of most of the court and Laurent is desperately trying to get some people (back) on his side. we see (or not see) him trying to "recruit" Herode just moments before.

i feel like after the lashing for now hes done with Damen. like, yeah he still has to deal with that guy one way or another, but he has already gotten some hatered out of the way through the lashing and now he can concentrate on more important things (yes, Damen, youre not that important at all rn)

but now Vannes expresses explicitly her desire to see Damen "perform" and Ancel is insisting so he must also desire to perform with Damen and if he does, so must Berenger - thats the way Laurent must see it at least.

and we know that Laurent has (understandibly) not the best understanding of sexual matters. i feel like he would see sex as some type of transactional good (in a way it might actually be in the Veretian court tbf)

so he contemplates. he has no desire to make Damen perform, despite the things he said at the ring (i feel like his need to punish/hurt Damen might have significantly decreased now that he has already done that with the lashing) - you could even read his reluctance as resentment of the idea tbh: he might be uncomfortable with sexuality in general as an result of his trauma but its also clear how much he openly dislikes sexual acts that are even slightly dubious consent (e.g. the ring, you can clearly see his dislike of the entire thing once you know what youre looking for)

but his main goal rn is to get more alliances and strengthen the ones he already has. and here are three people that are one of the few ones he has rn or that he wants to have (like Ancel) and they all seemingly want Ancel do perform with Damen.

So Laurent buries his displeasure about the whole thing and does what he thinks will have the best outcome for him - he literally only wants to please these three people (not to mention out of whom only one actually does want the actual "performance")

going even further - yes, im not done yet - he "whores himself out", too, through Damen because thats actually one of the very few ways he knows how to get people to be on someones side.

the thing is: he will be the one actually performing during the scene. Damen literally doesn't do anything the entire time (fair). Ancel might be the one actually giving the bj but its with Laurents instructions (if i remember the short story correctly hes very annoyed about that lmao). its even Laurent who only gets Damen hard and its Laurent Damen is looking at when he cums. Ancel is the instrument through which Laurent performs.

so does that make it any less of SA? no obviously not - it even raises the question where does it end?

Ancel initialtes it, but he doesn't actually want to suck Damen off, its just the only way to get the princes attention in his experience. hes a pet with limited power and limited ways to make the best of a situation. and even tho technically consensual, the entire pet thing is still super weird and sketchy (thats an entirely other topic tho).

Laurent allows it and "helps" with his instructions and is objectively the most powerful person out of them all. but at the same time he is actually just as powerless or even less powerful than Ancel. in a way hes just a pet in that situation too.

the people that actually do hold the power in this scene are Vannes and Berenger and i dont think they know it at all.

so, whos actually to blame? whos assaulting and whos assaulted?

but to cut this very long story short, what im trying to say is, that saying Laurent SA'd Damen is not really accurate and making it extra easy when the entire thing is decidedly not.

[furballfaggot]

my buddy convinced me to make an animal jam play wild account since it actually still gets proper updates and so far my feelings have been. mixed. overall i havent done nearly as much as anyone else bc my account has existed for maybeee 2 or 3 hours? so this is just my first impressions. im also kinda biased bc ive been playing animal jam classic for years and years and YEARS. back when 9 + 10 = 21 was still unironically funny and every cool kid in class read warriors. might update this post with extra thoughts as i go along! all opinions below the cut bc this is an absurdly long post

ive only played a few levels of overflow (and it might be because i played on expert because i Definitely have no overbearing hubris casting a shadow upon my better judgement) but the gem payout being higher than AJC for each level you complete is a very welcome change (2 gems times X number, seemingly determined by how long your path is, vs AJPWs i think it was like 5 gems times X number determined by how long your path is? either that or like 10. idk i blew a whole half hour on overflow alone and it was almost 6 AM by the time i finished so my brains kinda muddled)

also, membership has become far less of an overbearing nightmare monster for AJPW in comparison to AJC! thats a good thing! personally i think that membership just Shouldn't but thats because i think any monetarily-accessed subscription anythings just Shouldn't especially in this day and age. i got to go to the clothing store and buy things i liked and i didnt just have to longingly stare at the paywalled options like a maiden gazing out to sea and it felt great

dont like how theres so many fewer options for shopping for Like Everything but its a far more ambitious game than AJC what with everything being 3d modeled, and its got a younger target demo and theyre usually happy with whatever looks cool, so it checks out. haha. funny pun that was intended definitely. whats there is also pretty great and the den item options you get started off with are both way more cool and way more More than classic in its hayday. idk about the ajc starting den items now though i dug my old account from the ashes of who i once was when i decided to pick classic up again. i dont actually remember if you start with any den items in ajc now that i think about it i might be misremembering. that still means play wild has that point against classic though. shame theres no water animals but they could maybe possibly be added in an update pretty please wildworks if by some miracle youre reading this i am begging and pleadi

really my main issue so far is with how many things cost real-world money. theres next to nothing that requires a membership to even be bought aside from one members-only map location my buddy warned me about beforehand -- which, as a reluctant f2p since literally like 5th grade, ive been playing this game for Far too long, i do genuinely appreciate -- but boy oh boy you can sure tell this was mainly developed as a mobile game. there is so much pay-real-money-for-trinkets stuff and you just Cannot disable that menu. at least let me get rid of the little button that tells me i can spend the hard-earned bucks on moms credit card to get 1/4th the amount of animals of AJC man thats all i ask of this part

also this is largely unrelated but can i just say i DESPISE how many things are like "hi heres a welcome bonus :) oh but you need to pay like 3 bucks for it. yeah its usually 5 but for a Special New Player Like You? its a steal!" like thats not a welcome bonus thats an entry fee. i know thats like a paltry amount of money compared to most things Just Ever but its also coming from a guy whos family usually has zero money to spare