#like how i love history of animation and history of video games for example

[fettiowi]

I really, really love getting to learn about the history and evolution of things. i feel like a way to get me interested in any particular topic is to get me invested in learning its history. it fascinates me more than anything

[r--kt]

Do you like Kakashi's dogs? Let's talk about why there are eight of them.

another example of naruto's ✨cultural code✨

contents | the eight dog warriors chronicles · legacy · eight confucian virtues. also look at the cuties love them sm

Naruto Vol. 10 CH 90

[ one dog is wonderful, I'm saying as the owner of a sweet little york terrier. two dogs are good, they won't be bored together. three dogs? yeah, cool! how are you going to walk them though? four? yes... look, maybe we have to draw the line h- wha- EIGHT? Excuse Me!? ]

surely, it's worth starting with the fact that eight is a lucky number in Japanese culture — everybody watched Hachi. of course, this is not the only cultural detail where the eight is mentioned. I want to pay special attention to a thing that I didn't know about until I googled it, and this is clearly what Kishimoto was doing homage to with Kakashi's eight ninken.

The Eight Dog Warriors Chronicles

Better known as Nansō Satomi Hakkenden. and it's not just some kind of book, it's a novel, consisting of 106 booklets written by Kyokutei Bakin in XIX century. Hakkenden is considered the largest novel in the history of Japanese Literature. this is one of the main representatives of the gesaku genre, which includes works of a frivolous, joking, silly nature. further I will emphasize a few more times how damn popular this work is and how often it is reflected in culture.

here are some illustrations for these books

now let's talk about the plot. It's weird, but it's weird at samurai-dogs-story level so stay here.

In brief, the story tells about the commander Satomi Yoshizane, whose native lands were attacked by the army of a man, whose forces surpassed those of Satomi, and the samurai in despair swore to a dog named Yatsufusa that the dog would get his beloved daughter Fuse as a wife if he chewed that man's throat. surprisingly, the dog not only understood the owner, but also fulfilled his wish! after that the commander refused to keep the promise. however, Fuse, true to her word of honor, went with Yatsufusa to the mountains and became his wife. upon learning that his daughter was pregnant, Satomi, in a rage, sent a samurai to kill Yatsufusa and bring Fuse home. she stood up for the dog anyways and died with him. at that moment, eight pearls with hieroglyphs that denoted the foundations of Confucian virtue burst out of her womb. (...cheers for mythology, I guess)

Soon, eight dog warriors who were Fuse's spiritual children were born in different parts of Awa province. after going through hardships, they got together and became vassals of the Satomi clan, then won the battle, and soon reached peace.

some more illustrations made by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. from left to right: Inukawa Sōsuke (the dog warrior), Inumura Daikaku (the dog warrior), Princess Fuse (their mother).

the novel mainly tells about each individual warrior dog and his shenanigans in a funny adventurous way. huge fame has led to excerpts from Hakkenden being staged at the Kabuki Theater and mentioned in the anime and manga, such as Inuyasha, Dragon Ball, as it turned out, Naruto and so on. there's also a lot of films and video games.

The eight virtues

these are loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, love, honesty, justice, harmony, and peace.

they relate more to Chinese culture, but basically Hakkenden was inspired by it too. since I did not read the whole novel, I would still like to mention at least the values on which it is based, and which were embedded in the symbolism of this story. It's quite interesting to apply this to Kakashi's dogs. gives them more weight and depth.

It is also interesting to note that the reason why Fuse gave birth to dogs was also that her father was cursed earlier in the story in a way that his descendants would become depraved like dogs. in Japanese culture, dogs embody the duality of character: the same mentioned filth and depravity, and devotion and bravery. so as samurai. but this is a different conversation, more related to Kakashi and his dog poetry.

Did you get here? Here's an additional discovery for you✨

Pakkun's name (パックン) is derived from the Japanese onomatopoeia “pakupaku” (パクパク) which reflects the sound of munching.

Kakashi, that's very sweet of you.

thank you for reading this to the end ♡

[thealexchen]

anything/one you consider underrated about the LIS franchise and specially anything from the individual games? And separately Bloom and Rage/Tell me why?

I’ve thought this over for awhile, and one aspect about Dontnod’s games in particular that I haven’t seen discussed is how well they romanticize the mundane parts of life. I’d make a whole video essay on this if I knew how to edit.

On the subreddit, there have been discussions about how the franchise brought people out of depression, helped them discover their queerness, become more in tune with their emotions, motivated them to reconnect or connect with others, and even small things like introducing them to new music artists. But honestly, Dontnod is the only company I know besides Studio Ghibli that captures the beauty in the everyday so well.

If you watch any Ghibli movie, you’ll see how their films include slow scenes to give room the viewer to breathe. There’s a quiet celebration of good food, good company, simple contentment, and love throughout their catalog. Their films are still a breath of fresh air when modern animated movies are overstimulating, 90-minute Tiktoks nowadays. But Ghibli movies also romanticize a tranquil, pastoral past that isn’t accessible to a lot of viewers. After all, we can’t all be Kiki in charming seaside town or meet Totoro in a beautiful, secluded forest. That’s why Dontnod games are so remarkable in how well they romanticize boring, old American suburbia.

So much of gaming is about colorful, fantastical landscapes for kids (most Nintendo games) or gritty, violent, hyperrealistic worlds for adults, all with complex mechanics and fast pacing. So Dontnod games are extra unique in how they almost exclusively feature regular, young protagonists (besides the superpowers, of course) in regular places you could imagine in the real world. Their environmental storytelling builds a believable history and world around them. They go to school, they use social media, they have friends and lives before the events of the game. The “moments of calm” are the game equivalent of those slow moments in Ghibli movies. But it’s obvious Dontnod doesn’t just pull inspiration from anime, they’re also inspired by American games, shows, books, and movies. So this isn’t just the devs’ nostalgia for 80s and 90s media, it’s their love for American pop culture.

How often do you see a positive, romanticized, progressive depiction of America by people outside of the U.S.? Hollywood makes enough movies set in the U.S., and the other examples are right-leaning, patriotic garbage. It’s so rare and almost charming to see that European touch on an American setting. Essentially, seeing the devs marvel at our little American quirks that we take for granted or complain about. Instead of Ghibli’s flower fields and endless rural hills, we get teenage bedrooms and rebellion. Only Dontnod would romanticize train tracks, high school hallways, gas stations, junkyards, the local diner, yellow school buses, dead-end towns, and American suburbia, while also featuring queer characters, POC, and sensitive social issues. Even in LiS2, where Dontnod is more critical of modern day race issues in the U.S., the entire game is still told through the narrative trope of the Great American Road Trip!

After all this time, I have to admit how endearing all of it is, even when it’s inaccurate or lacks subtlety. It makes me appreciate cross-cultural media more, and the LiS franchise and Dontnod’s similar games are a rare depiction of characters from marginalized backgrounds who get to be the heroes in regular old small town America.

Thank you for asking!

[theweirdowithcoffee]

Armored Core, Video Games, Mecha: A Cultural Study of A Genre.

In 1997, From Software (フロム・ソフトウェア) released "Armored Core" (アーマード・コア) for the Sony PlayStation. While definitely not the first "Mecha Game" as we'll be referring to ad nauseam in this bizarre, overly long, essay thing of sorts- it more than the rest is arguable the most important. Through its mechanics, story, gameplay, and even setting- everything about Armored Core reinforces that it is the first Mecha IP made for the brand new at the time "video game medium" that fully embodied everything that defines the cultural and historical influences of the modern Mecha Genre, while redefining that genre for the newer medium. To this day, with the most recent release of "Armored Core VI: The Fires of Rubicon" in August of 2023, the series continues to uphold and redefine this legacy. Yet, what does any of that even mean?

To make a long story shortened, somewhat long once again; as we know it outside of Japan "Mecha", is a niche of a niche in some cases. Not necessarily that it's unpopular, or doesn't make an insane amount of money (which it is and does in both cases quite often), but in that it is a genre almost entirely defined by its roots in Japan, primarily through various Manga Comics and especially Animated Series. Go Nagai's (永井 豪) "Mazinger Z" (1972) is credited most often as the birth of the genre's identity, most notably as the first real breakout attempt at conceptualizing the idea of a large robot that was controlled through the use of a cockpit within the robot itself. In Go Nagai's words within the book "A Brief History of Japanese Robophilia"; "I wanted to create something different, and I thought it would be interesting to have a robot that you could drive, like a car."

From this idea and the incredible popularity of Mazinger Z, "Robot Anime" (ロボットアニメ) was born, and Go Nagai went on to create more influential works that helped further expand the genre as well as develop this particular flavor as "Super Robot". Now, Super Robot being the first and oldest sub-category to the genre makes what came after works like the aforementioned Mazinger Z and later "Getter Robo" (also from Go Nagai, 1974) fascinating from an outsider to the culture and times of the late 20th Century Japan. Without going too much into a side tangent, shows like Mazinger Z and Getter Robo were the foundation of which everything that would come to pass was built on. Discussing Mazinger Z and Getter Robo with friends and people who love it, however, the one thing that was constantly said was that "They still were and are, monster of the week animated shows", the Super Robots being genuinely not too dissimilar to how super heroes or super powered characters in other cartoons or comics were depicted other than they were both vehicle and the powers themselves. They are still shows about cool/surprising fights with evil monsters or wicked folk- and that's what they really want to be.

Not to say there's little under the surface (I would never dare to even humor a claim like that in regards to near any media), but for example- Getter Robo, which introduced the concept of "gattai" (合体), better known as "combination", where these super robots or aspects of them could "combine together" to create a bigger, stronger, or better robot- combined with the introduction of the show's "Getter Rays", the primary antagonists being what are genuinely, dinosaur aliens, Getter Robo has a very clear and distinct theme of "Evolution" that permeates through its entire core- but its also secondary to the actual point of the series from what I've been informed. To quote directly from a friend who's a massive fan and shill for the series: "This is the invention of the wheel, no one has thought to put trims on it," which is not a criticism at all- but I think it's important to especially point that out here and now that this is what the Super Robot era of early Mecha was, really cool and fun ideas for media that wanted to be surprising, fun, and fresh for the early 1970s.

The other thing that was most interesting about the era of Super Robot, was that despite robots- the powers and abilities explored in these series were supernatural or magical in nature; Getter Rays for example is quite literally, human will made manifest- allowing their machines to fire beams of energy, transform their parts, amongst several other things. Some would say it's "on the nose", but frankly it's inspired and has persisted as an idea all the way to present in even modern Mecha that isn't Super Robot.

But then, what did come after the Super Robot era of early Mecha? When a genre has only escalated and expanded, going further into the fantastical and erratic energy of its fore-bearers and contemporaries; bigger, brighter, louder- where do we look once we've waged battle with every single light in the sky? When there's no battles left to be fought with aliens, kaiju, or other such monsters that threaten to snuff out our spark, try to tango with the human spirit and its indomitable will- eventually our sights go from the stars above, back to where all battles and conflict are directed at.

Each other.

(this post is continued in a series of reblogs, be sure to check them out!)

[siphersaysstuff]

FORTY YEARS!

As we reluctantly trudge into 2025, that means we've had FOUR DECADES of Transformers toys released globally with no breaks. So for January's Patreon-backed @tfwiki picture update, let's check out some toys from each of the major franchise chunks across TF history! Strap in!

I know it's an odd choice, but G1's representative is 1993's Europe-only Lightformer DEFTWING. But I think it's a fine example of TF's subteam gimmicks, the franchise's longevity even before the nostalgia boom, global reach, and its ever-evolving aesthetic.

(And as an personal-type note, this completes the Lightformers/Trakkons on the wiki, toy-pic-wise. Finally, all user-provided pics rather than crunchy old book scans. I love it when I can complete a team/theme like that.)

Beast Wars was a drastic change meant to save a dying line. And boy oh boy did it do that. Toys like 1997's B'BOOM mix "realistic" animal styling with super-posability and play gimmickry. Oh, also? This guy, a bit bigger than a modern Voyager, was $15. How's that make ya feel?

Car Robots/Robots in Disguise translated BW tech into classic TF Earth-vehicle alt-modes... with varying levels of success. WILDRIDE, aka X-BRAWN, here in a con-exclusive clear "transitional" state from regular to "Super" mode, is one of the better attempts.

The "Unicron Trilogy" really pushed toy-play gimmickry, and Armada's Mini-Cons are easily the best representative of the era. And Armada BLACKOUT (here in Powerlinx colors) embodies the versatility of their play pattern, with dedicated interactions with Demolishor.

The live-action movies were also a huge change in TF toys, both refining complexity and working some interesting gimmick & design challenges. 2007's DROPKICK is from the tie-in video games, and is a fun angry dude. The Bumblebee movie guy too? Maybe! Why not?

Animated's radical aesthetic shift had BW levels of immediate rejection followed by sudden glowing (and deserved) praise. SAMURAI PROWL shows off the tight coordination between the show and toy teams, making a complex design into a dang fun toy!

Prime kicked off the "Aligned" era, a massive reboot that formed the foundations of TF mythology going forward. New bots kept coming like AIRACHNID, here in her TakaraTomy "Arms Micron" release. And like other newcomers, proved popular enough to jump to other series!

Cyberverse used "evergreen" designs in a further shift to more kid-aimed TFs, which had started after Prime with Rescue Bots and Robots in Disguise 2015. ALPHA TRION embodies this with a much chunkier, simpler, action-gimmicky toy.

And now it's EarthSpark, focused on a new generation of TFs... but not all of them are nice! Chaos Terran SPITFIRE embodies the increased number of female TFs in the line... and the longstanding practice of redecoed toys as new characters, being a recolor of Twitch.

40 dang years. And I'll keep on going through it to bring more toy pics throughout its wide history for as long as I can. If you like these explorations and want to help out, consider contributing to my Patreon! Every little bit helps. You can find it at

"gregstfwikipics" at patreon dot com

[grecoromanyaoi]

helloo since we're on the topic: top historical fiction (or adjacent) ? can be any time period I just really love your taste in shows/games/etc and am always on the lookout for history inspired media !

thank you!!! im rly glad im like. inspiring other ppl to engage w things im insane abt hudofajsdfdassfsad. anyways. i will probably expand that list bc i literally forgot every single thing i ever read. also i havent watched that many movies so far

ancient times: i havent really watched a lot of movies/series set in ancient times so far :(

rome HBO (2005-2007) (tv series) - OF COURSE. i personally think its one of the best series ever made. they combine political, miliatry history with the lives of every day people in an incredible way. they never let you once engage with the series through modern lenses. according to my teacher (a historian, archeologist & self described 'romaphile') its incredibly historically accurate, mostly the clothing, set designs, characterization, military practices, etc. except for the things they straight up made up, of course.

i really enjoyed gladiator (2000), i think its a masterpiece.

prince of egypt (1998) i guess?

all the asterix movies of course, all the animated ones and most of the live actions. but i wouldnt really call it historical fiction

ok i havent actually finished watching it for now but sebastiane (1976) - an erotic, x rated, gay interpretation of the martyrdom of st sebastian. its in latin also.

wait i cant believe i forgor about assassin's creed odyssey - so far the only one ive played. its so fun and incredibly immersive visually. especially pour moi who cries into the pillow about how ill never experience the ancient world. also you can b a faggot which is always fun. i have things to say about their portrayal of same-sex sexuality and slavery in classical greece but i get why they did that considering its supposed to like. appeal to a lot of people, and a more "historically accurate" portrayal (for example of pederasty or how common slavery was etc.) would b v difficult for a lot of their target audience. alas.

medieval and early modern era:

the name of the rose (1986) - my medieval history teacher literally showed us bits of this movie to teach us about monasteries and monks fhdosiasdjasd.

the borgias (2011-2013) - incredibly messy, lots of political intrigue, and so so fun to watch. about the history of the borgia family. filled to the brim with drama.

the three musketeers (1993) - my favorite adaptation, also coincidentally the one i grew up on. casting tim curry as richelieu was genius. he slays so hard.

i also like bbc's the musketeers (2014-2016) - a neat little series. very fun and entertaining to watch.

outlaw king (2018) - like i dont think most ppl heard of this movie. its about robert the bruce's fight to reclaim the throne of scotland. starring chris pine

vikings (2013-2020) - its fun. i havent watched the entire series tho. dont expect anything resembling historical accuracy

the northman (2022) - you will see something resembling historical accuracy

mihai viteazul (michael the brave) (1971) - a fun movie. very much romanian propaganda tho.

1670 (2023-) - such a fun series!!! incredible cast, shows respect to the actual history and the lives of historical people. really cute and funny.

caravaggio (1986) - a biopic about caravaggio.

wait i also forgor about pentiment - an intriguing, immersive, and incredibly beautiful video game! it has a lot of 'the name of the rose' vibes, with it being a medieval murder mystery taking place in a monastery. its incredibly touching and made me cry, and in the last few years i very rarely cry. also im 99% sure its an indie game? go support the creators!

vaguely-medieval/early modern fantasy:

mirror mirror (2012) - a retelling of snow white. a very fun movie imo, with incredible costume design. julia roberts plays the evil queen and she SLAYS. armie hammer is unfortunately in that movie.

stardust (2007) - one of my fave movies growing up. more modern-inspired but still.

the green knight (2021) - controversial i know but i actually loved this movie! i liked it both as a standalone movie but moreso as a 21st century adaptation to sir gawain and the green knight.

galavant (2015-2016) - !!!!!!! one of the most series ever! they manage to tackle such difficult concepts and conversations with a hilarious wit. so fun to watch. i listen to a lot of the songs still, and rewatch every once in a while.

disenchantment (2018-2023) - very fun to watch, especially the first season.

i also really liked the novel uprooted by naomi novik. its a polish-inspired fantasy.

modern era:

killers of the flower moon (2023) - of course. a masterpiece

aferim! (2015) - a romanian movie set in 19th century wallachia, about two officers, a father and son, who were sent by a nobleman to retrieve an escaped enslaved romani man. a lot of the people in the comments were calling the movie humorous and funny, maybe im missing smth (as im watching with subtitles n dont understand the original language) but it was a very difficult watch for me??

the handmaiden (2016) - need i say more

black sails (2014-2017) - a prequel to the famous novel 'treasure island'. not an easy series to watch. incredibly good.

the favourite (2018) - need i say more pt 2

the rabbi's cat (le chat du rabbin) (2011) - animated movie set in early 20th century algeria. a rabbi's cat learns to talk overnight.

the nice guys (2016) - a fun murder mystery set in the 1970s

o brother, where art thou (2000) - a retelling of the odyssey set in the southern us in the 1930s

victor/victoria (1982) - set in early 20th century paris. julie andrews pretends to be a man and takes on a job as a drag queen. extremely fun, extremely gay movie.

lady chatterley's lover (2022) - very much porn for moms but it was a nice watch imo

amulet (2020) - set in like. idk. sometime in the 20th century. this is a horror movie, deals a lot with misogyny, sa, and so on. i really like it, personally. a lot of people, mostly weird men, dont tho.

the great (2020-2023) - i have mixed feelings about this show. on the one hand, its really fun to watch. on the other hand, its basically ofmd for girls who have public mental breakdowns whenever someone claims corsets were oppressive. and theyre so weird about russians, jesus christ.

disses:

domina (2021-) - i just couldnt get into it, esp since i tried right after finishing rome hbo. it was kind of silly, and not in a good way. takes itself wayyyy to seriously.

i didnt like spartacus (2010-2013) - the dialogue was almost grotesque and the editing, especially the transitions, straight up killed me

damsel (2024) - holy fuck what a trainwreck of a movie. absolute waste of angela basset and robin wright. the only good thing were the costumes.

lancelot du lac (1974) - i just didnt like it at all. couldnt get into it. i guess it was way too french and artsy fartsy for me. a movie that was trying to say both too little and too much at the same time.

i didnt rly like bram stoker's dracula (1992) - i mean. it was a fine movie. it was definitely not the godfather. the movie itself was meh. the visuals tho? absolutely stunning

[eve-to-adam]

Hello

I love your art. It’s so beautiful.

I have a question

What is a manga or something that really influenced your art

Hello! :)

Thank you very much for the message and for the kind words! <33

Hmm, there are quite a few things that have influenced my art over the years - illustrations for anime to manga and sequential illustrations by popular artists in Art History. One of the most important aspects for me in the process of developing my own art would be the need to do better. More elaborate. More complex. Until I defined my own style (it all starts with the horribly disproportionate and childish fanarts that any young potential artist creates at the beginning of his exploration), I longed for the idea of ​​reaching the most complex level possible. Of course this could not happen on the first try and it is certainly not necessarily a pattern for me at the moment - it took some time for me to understand that there are more ways to achieve complexity when we talk about visual art.

But let's move on to some examples.

✦ I think my first impulse towards visual complexity was given to me by the works of Shibamoto Thores, the artist who created the artistbook for Trinity Blood. Her illustrations fascinated me because every time I looked, I always found a new detail that had escaped my previous inspection. Her characters are intriguing by their posture, color shades and design and the very detailed backgrounds give a certain solemnity to the artworks. Her art also made me interested in the Gothic style.

✦ Another example in this approach is Ayami Kojima, who created illustrations and character designs for the video game Castlevania (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, 1997). Her characters were drawn with an extraordinary elegance, which at the time I could only dream of; that's why I particularly liked her designs, which at the same time increased my fascination with the world of fashion design.

✦ The first mangaka I will mention is none other than Shin-ichi Sakamoto, who exploited his talent to the maximum in this project - and many others - "Innocent" (2013-2015), closely followed by "Innocent: Rogue" (2015 - 2020). The manga is a historical one, based on Masakatsu Adachi's book "The Executioner Sanson". The action takes place in France, before the French Revolution. I want to mention that the story is mature, being loaded with metaphors and various graphic scenes of torture, executions and sex. Sakamoto's art made me want to push my limits even more in terms of visual complexity. I mean, seriously, the man is a true master of details:

✦ Boichi is another top mangaka whose comic book projects have influenced my decisions throughout my artistic exploration. He started his career illustrating mature subjects (porn), which sometimes explains the fanservices in his projects, lol. Like Sakamoto, Boichi has a unique artistic style and an affinity for detail and semi-realism. Sun-Ken Rock is among my favorite stories he created. Besides this, I also liked "Origin" (2016-2019), "Wallman" (2013-2015) "Dr. Stone" (2017-2022, art only), "Raqyia" (2008-2010, art only).

✦ Yana Toboso is one of my favorite comic artists. I still remember the moments when I discovered Black Butler, haha. How nostalgic! The fact that the story is fantasy, which still incorporates a lot of Victorian elements - customs, food, clothing, etc - fascinated me so much that at one point I tried to create my own version that would include Victorian elements. Of course, it all ended in disaster, lol.

Among other manga works that have inspired me, especially in terms of details and fashion design, are:

✦ "Arte" (2013 -) by Ookubo Kei.

✦ "Death Note" (2003-2006, art by Obata Takeshi).

✦ "Zetman" (2002-2014) by Masakazu Katsura.

✦ "Berserk" (1989 - ) by the late Kentarou Miura.

Among the artists of sequential art who represented and continue to represent a source of inspiration during my artistic exploration are:

✦ Gustave Doré.

✦ Walter Crane.

[aquatark]

My previous post made me realize that not a lot of people here are aware of Endless Ocean's bowmouth guitarfish glitch fiasco, which I think is a shame because 1) it's an interesting look into this game's history, and 2) I find it really funny... long-winded explanation incoming!

So! you see this guy?

You can place him in the game's aquarium, right? I bet if you've played the game, you've done it without even thinking twice!

...Well, in the initial Japanese release of Endless Ocean (known over there as Forever Blue), you couldn't. In fact, attempting to place this little scrimbly in the aquarium crashes your game.

Now this isn't too bad, since you can just press the reset button and continue your game normally, right? well... if you happen to leave the aquarium and save the game after having opened the creature placing menu, selecting a bowmouth guitarfish, and then closing the menu without placing anything... then congrats! you can never use the aquarium again, because it autoplaces whatever you left in that menu on your next visit! :D

In case you're wondering what this looks like in action, this video taken around the game's launch showcases it well, while also using the game's MP3 playback feature to put some anime music in the background, which I think adds to the experience:

So... how does this happen? How could something like this make it into the final game?

Turns out, this is due to how Endless Ocean categorizes creatures internally. Each creature in the game falls into a category, depending on the movements and behaviors the developers wanted to give them. For example, "migrate" type creatures follow a set of coordinate points creating a route around a stage, whereas "swim" type creatures simply swim around the area in which they are placed within a certain radius. Think of a whale shark's movements versus that of a butterflyfish - they have very different AI telling them how to behave.

Now, trying to load a creature of one type as a creature of another... does not make the game happy, to put it lightly. It doesn't know how to handle the request, and so crashes to prevent further weirdness from ensuing. There is only one byte (literally the second smallest unit of digital information storage you could use) per creature responsible for telling the game what type to load the creature as, and this includes when placing creatures in the aquarium. A slip of the keyboard caused a dev to type the wrong number in this byte, making it attempt to spawn bowmouth guitarfish placed in the aquarium as "swim" type rather than their correct "migrate" type. Literally one wrong number caused the game to crash, and for ears to bleed across Japan.

Since the aquarium is unlocked so early in the game, people discovered this on day one, in their first play session... and since Endless Ocean was a launch game for the Wii in Japan, that's even worse. It's not exactly a great look for your brand new console to have a game break so bad you can't use a mechanic anymore. And Wii game crashes are not pretty. So, Nintendo put out a statement on the day of release, notifying people of the problem, how to avoid it, and saying that a recall would be put in place. A week later, they released another statement, which stated people could apply to have their games replaced with an updated version, which would be mailed to them free of charge, by either phoning in or filling out an application online. This service continued up until 2020, over ten years after release! They really didn't want any copies of the broken version around... good thing we have archives of it!

The updated version even has different box art, with an added blue bar at the bottom, showcased in this incredibly crunchy image:

I love picturing Nintendo executives freaking out after a humble diving game causes such a mess they have to print the game again, losing them a lot of money and causing the game to get a lot of negative press...

I've seen old forum threads talking about the game as if it's garbage before it even came out internationally, because this situation was pretty much the only major news coming out about it. Can't have helped sales, at least...

Anyway, the game was patched to fix this glitch, along with a few other minor tweaks, and it was this version of the game that got translated worldwide. Japanese fans love joking about the whole ordeal, and I can see why! For example, on the bowmouth guitarfish's Niconico Pedia page (for which the closest equivalent in English would be something like Know Your Meme), this is recounted comedically as "...probably the most notable moment for the bowmouth guitarfish in the history of the internet", which is probably true! There's even image macros about it!

So yeah. The bowmouth guitarfish's reputation was forever tainted, and some Nintendo execs to this day probably wince when they see one.

tl;dr - A developer for Endless Ocean typed one number wrong in the code, making the game explode if you place a bowmouth guitarfish in the aquarium. Nintendo had to recall the game, and that specific fish has lived on in infamy among Japanese fans ever since.

Next time you use the aquarium, try putting a bowmouth guitarfish in there, and be grateful you can at all!

[yansimstorythatiwillnotworkon]

Revamped Conversational Topics?

By no means is this a well thought-out concept, but this has been on my mind for a long time. We all know that "Gosh, (name), I just love (subject)! What about you?" is NOT a very human or enjoyable conversation to have. Of course, I expected this to be edited in the future, so I can't say the dialogue is really my problem.

More underneath the cut. As well as a picture to show an example.

I think my problem arises more in the topics of conversation themselves. I personally think they're too vague. For instance, if I were to ask someone if they liked "Drama", it's probably not likely that they'd think the drama club, even in the Akademi atmosphere. They could think of films or news.

The same goes for cooking. If a student dislikes "Cooking" does that mean that they dislike cooking themselves? Do they dislike being cooked for? Do they not like the food they have at home? The club or club members?

Of course, I don't think that we should be scrolling through an irritatingly long list of options to talk about, but if that were some form of an option, I think that doing so in a "Sims" manner would help with that. If YanDev were to add tons of options, it should be organized with genres and sub-genres.

To continue on that subject, I'll put down idea I had for a full list of "conversation topics".

The subjects of:

The Cooking Club, Cooking, The Drama Club, Acting, The Occult Club, The Supernatural, The Art Club, Arts and Crafts, The Light Music Club, Music, The Martial Arts Club, Combat, The Gaming Club, Video Games, The Photography Club, Photography, The Science Club, Science, The Gardening Club, Gardening, The Sports Club and Sports

Could all be in a "Club" Category. Even in that there could be options like "thoughts on a new club" or "specific members" or something of the sort. Personas and reputation could also play into what sort of response you get from your peers.

Furthermore, the subjects of:

Biology, Chemistry, Literature, Physical Education, Psychology, Computer Science and History

Could be in a "School" or "Studying" category. I think that this could help with extra favors or easy ways to get reputation points. Imagine learning that a student dislikes Biology because of how difficult it is for them to understand. If you have a high grade in Biology, you could 100% tutor them for a time and earn their favor. (This could also be an easier kidnapping method, I think. Although some students might reveal to the police that the missing student was last seen with YOU.)

Additionally, the subjects of:

Anime, Animals, Gossiping, Memes, Reading, Cleanliness and Social Media

Could all be in a "Hobbies" category of some sort. I specifically like the Cleanliness subject because it could contrast cleaning being seen as suspicious. Imagine walking past a student who likes Cleanliness and getting praised for being so tidy! Anyway, this is also another way that you could get close to certain students. You could send memes to some students, suggest books, maybe even by a student a small pet (although that seems like more of a stretch).

Finally, the subjects of:

Family, Justice, Money, Nature, School, Socializing, Solitude, Gifts and Dating

Could be in a "Personal" category, maybe. I imagine learning a bit about each student's family situation could help activate special tasks, and learning a student's thoughts on dating could help to unlock matchmaking options. (I personally think that matchmaking other random students could be very important for a "matchmaking ending", so that it seems less suspicious that you ONLY matchmade your rivals.)

[skippygiraffee]

dragon and history nerd raihan x art and pokemon battling nerd leon. thoughts?

Thank you for the ask!! I have a lot of thoughts on these two, SPECIFICALLY in the realm of their interests outside of battling (even though with Leon I think that can get a bit muddled). But I'll put them under a read more since it might get long >:3c

With Raihan, once I started looking into him as a character more, I found his fascination and love of history in the canon parts of the story (which to me always fall in the game and manga, as the anime does deviate and seem to have its own canon), and clearly he has a reverence and interest in Galarian history, despite battling in the tapestry vault. I've always pictured him as the sleeper intellect of the group, where it's obvious with someone like Sonia, but Raihan rolls up to the function listing off Galarian history facts like it's a Top 10 video. Honing in on that, I personally think Raihan's an architectural nerd kind of guy, where he's interested in Galar's historical castles, buildings, their style changes through the eras, ect. And of course this guy is the Dragon Type guy to end all Dragon Type guys. I don't think anyone who isn't locked in on every single aspect of how they work would also be able to manipulate the weather like that, while also giving other gym leaders, notably Kabu, help and recommendations on other Pokemon that aren't Dragon Types (they're Tor-colleagues!!). How that looks has been warped by my many hours of fic reading and talking with @beammeupbroadway about the subject, but I genuinely think he's interested mainly in two aspects: 1. the preservation of Dragon Type habitats in Galar and 2. ethical breeding and raising of Dragon Types for rehabilitation, training, or release into the wild. Raihan prides himself on the care and upkeep of his dragons, spending a lot of his free time dedicated to further research of that topic, all so he can keep up to date with it. I'm also a pretty big proponent of Raihan being the kind of guy who lets his Pokemon free roam around his living space, as it's also their space, and therefore it's a very dragon type friendly place.

Also, I know the ask says that Leon is the art nerd, but I genuinely think that's more Raihain, though I think Leon has an appreciation for it (I'll get into that). Raihan's thing is partly to do with his love of history and architecture, which turned into a deep appreciation and understanding of art, and Galarian artistic movements, while also being the selfie/Pokegram guy. As an example:

The back of his League Card made me laugh the first time I read it, because I do think he takes very stereotypical artsy pictures, uploads them, and confuses people because I don't think people quite get the vision or reference he's making.

For Leon, battling nerd goes way beyond just being on the pitch. I think canon has my back for that, with the Battle Tower, the two tournaments he's organized, and just his general love of the sport of it all. And, for once, I will credit the anime with showcasing that, where his battle with Ash was one of the few times I think it got Leon's characterization pretty well. More than that, Leon to me found his love of battling early, adapts easily, and at least always seems eager to watch a match, if not participate himself. I know Twilight Wings shows Hop watching reruns of matches, but I think Leon would as well. Sometimes his own, but often older matches, when they were first being recorded. Depending on how far back Mustard was Champion, some of those old matches (though Pokemon tech has always been something I'm iffy about in the timeline, and have been since I was a young kid). It's something he's genuinely hype about, and something he loves, to the point his experiences with Rose and being Champion couldn't kill that for him, and it's part of why I love him as a character. Cycling back to the art thing, I don't personally see Leon as an art nerd exactly, but I think he appreciates art. Kind of guy to like weird pieces of art in a museum and get weirdly attached to them. Museum dates between the two is just Raihan telling Leon why a painting is historically significant, and Leon staring at it like he's rewiring his brain. But, if you ask my opinion on his other big hobby, I think he's an avid reader. As Champion I don't think he had time for it, and I have a whole other tangent I'll save about my thoughts on his education, but I think he loves reading. If it's in book form, the topic could almost not matter, he would probably read it if it's well written.

How this all comes together? Both of them as a couple? First off, I don't think they stop talking, ever. They say goodnight, snuggle in bed, but one of them is still rattling on about whatever thing is stuck in their brain until sleep takes them. Second, when I think of them in my mind palace, they're always partaking in their hobbies together. Raihan is cleaning his dragons, caring for them, Leon is right there helping him, learning all that he can about it. Leon is working out his latest battle line up for whatever he wants to test out, Raihan is the guinea pig, happily, each and every single time. They're sitting in the sun, Leon reading his book and Raihan is posting his latest batch of pictures. Together, I think they have a lot of angst potential, but at the end of the day I think they settle into life where once they figure out how to channel all of the years of being made to be rivals and opposite the other, they come together in a harmony that works. I always picture them on very secluded dates, Raihan dragging Leon out to check on the dragon nests, or Leon begging Raihan to go get lost with him, or in those museums looking at old shit because why not? They have the time, each other, and they've spent years getting to know the other in battle, why not give the same energy and determination in life?

Honestly, going further in on this, my headcanon for Raihan, when he stops being a gym leader, is that he becomes a History Professor of some flavor. That isn't original, but I agree with it full stop. And I think Leon keeps up his battling facilities until it stops being fun for him, whenever that is. And they support the other, and it's nice to think about <3

[masquayla-the-splendid]

Some things from Twitter I grabbed from the limited amount of time SatAM was trending.

Thank you, team SatAM Reanimated. This is why I took 4 parts in that collab.

I think some need to realize localization does not equal bad. I can get behind "he's almost like a fairytale creature in that regard," but AM's "rad dude" contrasts more heavily with Mario at the time, I feel.

[More below cut]

Ex of localization: In Splatoon's Salmon Run, Mr Grizz is supposed to be the shady boss of the job you're working. The characteristics of a shady boss differ between cultures. In JP, he is characterized as overly nice and forgiving. In AM, he is characterized as ruthless, unforgiving, and rough, with the occasional compliment to keep you motivated. Either way, both cultures get the idea that something is fishy with this guy.

Bringing it back to Sonic, in both continuities, he is characterized as a carefree do-gooder with an attitude, more or less. He is cool. However, like the Splatoon example, he is given multiple ways to portray this to the right audience.

People have their aesthetic preferences, and it is incredibly convenient that we are able to communicate information across the globe, so we now know of these different interpretations, and can pick which one we like. It'd be one thing if that weren't the case, then I'd understand why people would be upset, because these interps would be gatekept from everyone else.

This one I thought was funnier than the original. It's generalized. (That's the Archie comic font iirc. 🤓)

It reminds me of how many Sonic copycats there were around the mid-late 90s because of how successful of a character he was.

The drawing on the left reminds me of some arcade collection games I played on my Xbox as a kid.

That also reminds me how many people who defend SatAM are 90s kids. This was their first impression, and they love it. I'm the oddball youngin who so happened to prefer this version after typing "Sonic Cartoon" into YouTube in the year 2013, but it makes me wonder how old are these lil petty babies who have nothing better to do than complain about a cartoon animal? (Trust me, you are going to look pathetic regardless of your answer.)

This one took me by surprise! Talk about sabotaging a Sonic story! I don't like this guy too much, but he is occasionally a credible source. I feel like that's the case in more recent times than say at least 10 years ago. This one you can take his word for, as there are mutple pieces of evidence to support this. (Im not your mom, do your own research. The feds wont be after you if you type "SatAM production history" into your search bar.) The first sentence is a full on mood. It felt like Lily Orchard's "Steven Universe is Garbage, Here's Why" video, and 90% of it is them struggling with story comprehension and changing their opinion every 5 minutes.

Anyway, I'm gonna go draw various localized characters, and there's nothing you can do to stop me! >:D

[ronearoundblindly]

A, D, E for jimothy please? 🥺💕

Prompts from this dirty ask game, and since I am not able to make a story canonically accurate to time period or the location of The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (plus I grew up in the South *gag* and don't want to relive it), this is for the Common Education, a modern AU, where Jimmy is finally taking advantage of his scholarship to NYU (not Ole Miss b/c *more gagging* sorry).

These asks do contain explicit description, so MINORS DNI.

A - Alone Time

I don't even care if this is a spoiler, but you catch him masturbating once, before you two ever even admit feelings for each other.

Jimmy's roommate, Steve, is an art history major taking several of your classes. Since Steve is sickly, you were kind enough to set up a video feed of your lectures, and Steve often plays them whenever he's feeling up to studying/reviewing. Jimmy is very used to hearing your voice come from the adjoining room of his dorm suite.

What he doesn't realize, as he's daydreaming about you laid out on one of those flimsy tables on the lecture hall platform, is you are actually visiting your student to see how Steve is doing. Jimmy isn't listening to the exact conversation; he's just thinking about you muttering quietly as he runs his hands over you.

And then Jimmy 'imagines' you saying his name, chanting it really, loudly because his touch feels so good, and he reaches his end with an "'m coming' out loud.

Which made you--who was actually knocking to say a quick hello to your former student--think it's okay to open the door, and he scrambles to cover himself in bed, mid-orgasm.

🥴 so get excited for that tale...

At the general store he took over from his drunk father back home, he only needed a computer that could calculate finances and contact suppliers, do some inventory tracking, etc. He didn't need a fancy laptop and he didn't need it at home, so Jimmy has never bothered much with porn. He had some casual girlfriends over the years, and Jimmy is...pretty good-looking. He never hurt for company.

Working 16 hour days regularly also left very little time to care about anything other than sleep.

D - Dominance

Jimmy might not be forward, but, yes, he is dominant. The largest population in his hometown was farm animals, and his own parents were a terrible example of a relationship. We are lucky he knows not to just mount someone he likes and stuff his dick in.

Jimmy was one of those men who didn't understand female pleasure until a knock-down, drag-out, drunk screaming fight with his ex at a bar. To be fair, how would he know he hadn't made her come if she faked it every time?

Anyway, he's dominant in the way that he's pretty raunchy in bed. He praises and coaches you as much as he orchestrates your position. He also does all this with respectful vocabulary but in an extremely dirty voice.

It's, uh... It's good. It's real good.

E - Extra Info

He has smoked for so long he has an oral fixation. Enjoys using his mouth on you very much. If he weren't quite vanilla in his sexual tastes, he'd probably realize there's a reason he loves you in a choker necklace. Just saying. Oh! And Jimmy go nuts over dainty, feminine things you wear. Lace panties are kinda his pinnacle of 'needs to fuck now' if he sees you wearing them.

He's never admitted to another living soul that he's had a fantasy about being cockwarmed while he stands behind the store cash register. Also, last but not least, Jimmy gets way more aggressively naughty during sex the fancier/nicer yours/his clothes are. I don't have an explanation for that, but I know it's a fact. So there. 😁

Thank you for asking!

[Main Masterlist; Dirty Asks Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

[crusherthedoctor]

Hot take: humanizing a villain =/= giving him sympathetic traits. One of my favorite ways the games have humanized Eggman is by giving him a love for amusement parks. We can headcanon all the reasons why he enjoys them so much (and I like that one page in IDW where he says "If I want my enemies' last moments to be carousel music and the smell of petroleum-based cotton candy, that's what I'll make happen", that's a nice explanation), but at the end of the day, it's just a silly cute trait that tells us Eggman is a joyous manchild who is having a blast in his quest for world domination. Doesn't erase his various war crimes :P but he feels more rounded (hehe) as a character.

Strongly agree | Agree | Neutral | Disagree | Strongly disagree

Said it time and time again: some of the most widely beloved villains throughout all forms of fiction - video games, movies, comics, anime, you name it - have little-to-no sympathetic qualities or moral standards, and a big reason for why they become favourites anyway (aside from how enjoyable they are in their blatant villainy) is because they manage to be fascinating or nuanced in other ways. You can have a villain who is openly evil, proud of being openly evil, and kicks dogs every minute for the lulz, but what's stopping you from giving them a history? What's stopping you from going full character study and delving into how they work their evil magic, and in what specific ways they affect other characters? Sorry to bring up the Paper Mario fic again, but part of the fun I've been having with crafting it is the specific layers of just how Eggman decides to make things needlessly personal with the heroes.

The persistent schoolboy error that writers and fans frequently commit - especially in Eggman's case, much to my eternal grief - is the assumption and YouTube essays claiming that making a villain overtly tragic, or giving them some moral line that they won't cross, is the only possible way you can flesh them out. As you pointed out with your example, villains who are loud and proud about their evil ways can still have other sides of them explored, even if none of it actually softens or redeems them per say. You can give a villain admirable qualities that have nothing to do with their (lack of) morals, such as making them a good planner. Indeed, Eggman already has that and a bunch of other "good" qualities, such as being creative, showing fearlessness, and never giving up, among others. None of it detracts from his certified dipshit and furry executioner status.

And not to be one of those "does fiction affect reality???" goobers, but let's face it: putting the fantastical elements aside, people who don't need a reason to do bad shit do exist in real life. I'm not saying that as a nihilistic doomposter (on the contrary, I hate that shit), but what I mean is, painting every single villain as not-so-bad or just slightly grey is not a very helpful perspective. It's better to acknowledge that people with criminal activity on their hands come in all shapes and sizes, including motive: for every example who has a tragic past, there's another example who did it for the thrill.

[autisticempathydaemon]

Hi! This is for your redacted match-up game because I love reading them (you put so much work and thought into them!!) and it seemed super fun ^v^ (if you have the time for it ofc. If you can't do this then it’s totally cool and you can just brush it away from your to do pile <3 also thank you if you do this one)

What song are you fixated on at the moment? What lyric or verse, and why? It was hard to choose, buuuuttt I chose, “Greenlight” by Pitbull ft. Flo Rida, LunchMoney Lewis, because of the vibe and it’s a song that reminds me of summer 2016, which was such a fun summer for me (and it’s been in my head for the past day). No specific lyrics or verses I like since I don’t usually listen to songs because of the lyrics. Altho if they have beautiful lyrics (like Hozier songs) then more props to the song :)

What is your Enneagram type? Type 3w4. 

Do you love gargantuan Youtube video essays, and if so, which is your favorite and why? I like to watch really long videos, but I’m not sure if they count as essays. I watch “BHultra” a lot. I watch a lot more commentary/essay videos that are 30-40 minutes long (mostly talking about childhood tv shows or fashion/fashion history).

Tell me about your childhood imaginary friend. Didn’t have one, but I lied and said I “had an imaginary friend named Bob”, because I thought I was supposed to have one and thought the name Bob was funny.

What is your go-to way to fall asleep? Gotta have a heavier blanket somewhere on me, as well as sleeping on my stomach or on my side as well as with my stuffed animal. More often than not I have to fall asleep and listen to older youtube videos that I watched when I was a kid because I already know what happens and they are comfort vids.

If you had to change your name, what would it be, and why? (In tandem, if you have changed your name, why did you pick that one?) I like my name, but if I'd have to change it, I’d like the name Adelaide. It’s classic and sweet sounding. 

What is your favorite of Redacted’s audios, and why? One of my favorite audios is Milo’s “Healing Your Feisty Werewolf Boyfriend” because I love the parallel to the first time Sweetheart healed him, and the cuddling at the end is so cute!

What Redacted boy holds no appeal to you, and why? Like, not the one you hate but the one who you don’t get the hype for. (I won’t judge, I promise.) I’m not sure how much hype he has, but Ivan is kinda just meh. I’m not super into the yandere thing (even though I know Vega kinda led that whole ordeal) and the rest of his videos are alright, but, don’t really excite me a whole bunch to relisten to them. (Still haven’t listen to quite a few of the other characters, like Vega, Regulus, Anton, Brachium, but I’ll get there eventually).

Tell me about that one book/movie/tv show you know all the words to. Gravity Falls. I’ve watched it wayyy too many times and can literally quote the majority of the episodes.

Which Redacted boy are you platonically attracted to? Like- forget dating, which dude do you want to be your best friend? I really would like to be friends with Huxley. He’s so chill and sweet. Absolutely can vibe with the dude. Also, maybe, Guy. He’s much more energetic and I don’t think I could match his pace all of the time without tiring quickly (i usually try to match people’s personalities when I’m with them), but I think he’d be super fun to go places with, as well as I would enjoy gossiping and talking about writing stuff with him.

Do you have a go-to thing you ramble about when you’re tired, and if so, what is it? (For example, my boyfriend knows I’m ready to sleep when I start talking about space.) If I’m tired I don’t normally talk a whole bunch, but I do start thinking about life and how short and long it is, and all the wonderful things and how much I’ve grown as a person. And if I start feeling anxious, then that’s when I realize that I am way past “kinda tired” and I should be going to sleep.

Tell me your go-to gas station and drink combo. Don’t have a “go-to” gas station but I always get a blue raspberry slushie/icee

Tell me about your favorite playlist at the moment. “𝙥𝙤𝙫: 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟗-𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟐 :3 (Part 1)” on Youtube. Majority of those songs are dance songs and all those songs bring back good memories. I really like more hyper sounding music than slower songs.

What’s your guilty pleasure media, and why? Hmm roleplay asmr is probably the biggest guilty pleasure I have, since I don’t talk about it with anyone. Also listening to Nickelback would probably be another big guilty pleasure, even though lots of people like it, listening to it is still “lol you listen to Nickelback?? really???”.

And whatever else you think tells me about who you are! INFP; 99% sure I have anxiety and OCD (haven’t actually gotten professionally diagnosed bcuz of reasons, cuz oof); Oldest kid; I really like to draw, read and write; I really like taking pictures of the sky and candid shots; I’m a very nostalgic person (altho my answers probably make that obvious); Can’t watch horror movies; Love cats; People think I’m always upset or angry cuz of my resting bitch face but I literally am not usually thinking of any mean response to whatever is happening, I’m just absorbing everything happening; Not a super big math/coding person (kudos to anyone that is great at that stuff, you’re absolutely awesome for that!); i guess sort of a pushover unless I really really care about something; anddddd i'm kinda the therapist friend.

Easy peasy- a therapist friend needs a partner who is least likely to need a therapist and/or is skilled enough at handling boundaries to know the proper place to seek therapy which is not with you. Hence, Camelopardalis!

Of course, those aren’t the only reasons. Type Threes are characterized by a desire to be loved and to be sure of that love, and Cam gives me the impression of an openly affectionate and communicative partner. He’s an introvert; you’re an introvert. You’re a nostalgic-kind of person; who better to share in that than an eons-old, immortal daemon? (Until told otherwise by God and/or Erik, the d(a)emons are heckin ancient to me.) Cam is also a great partner to pair if suffering from anxiety and compulsions, almost the most out of all the boys.

Life with Camelopardalis would be so sweet, so domestic, so full of the joy of sharing with him everyday human delights he might not take part in usually. For starters, you obviously get a cat. He objectively knew a cat would be cool, but with you, he learns to love cats. You also show him Gravity Falls which he doesn’t expect to like; he’s surprised by what a heartfelt show it is for being animated and based on such a silly concept. (He feels a lot for Mabel, as he should /lh) He loves your art but especially your photos of the sky. He puts them all over your shared house, and they stay up even after you’re gone.

Song:

Like the shadow that's by your side/ I'll be there/ For better or worse/ 'Til death do us part/ I'll love you with every beat of my heart/ I swear/ I'll give you everything I can/ I'll build your dreams with these two hands/ We'll hang some memories on the wall/ And when there's silver in your hair/ You won't have to ask if I still care/ 'Cause as time turns the page/ My love won't age at all

Though you like nostalgic songs that are more suited to dancing, I think Cam likes nostalgic songs that are more contemplative and slow. For you two, I settled on a song that’s more of a nostalgic, slow dance vibe, you know what I mean? I couldn’t resist for two reasons. One, the lyrics of devoted, lasting love suited him too well. Two, it delighted me and tickled me pink to imagine Cam listening to a nineties boy band.

Runner-ups:

Geordi is my favorite runner-up for you, because he’s another great partner for a Type Three, another boy who’s very openly loving and sweet. He’s also, if I remember correctly, canonically been to therapy already, so he’s less likely to need your services as a therapy friend. Morgan is a runner-up because I like this vibe in tandem with your anxiety; like, I think he’d be a calming, comforting presence to you. Also, you two should get a cat.

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

[tongueofcat]

Current WIP Questions Meme!

I was tagged by my good bro @thebarghestiest and I’m so excited I literally haven’t been tagged in one of these in YEARS!!! Okay, ahem, without further ado, let’s FUCKING GO!!! They particularly wanted me to talk about my ‘FMA project’ which is adorable because I have like… multiple FMA fics in the pipeline. But I’ve been talking about my Dungeons and Dragons AU at the moment, so I will focus on that!

What is the main lesson of your story?

It’s very much a canon-divergence story set in an AU. Which, now that I’m saying that is very confusing. I’m translating (to the best of my ability) FMA into a like… what if Edward Elric was a PC at a Dungeons and Dragons table — and the story of FMA was a Dungeons and Dragons game! It’s mostly an AU, but I will probably make tweaks to the overall story, knowing me… so it’s also canon-divergence? I’ll be trying to translate it the best of my ability, though — so the main lesson is the same as the source material! So, uh, equivalent exchange!

What did you use as inspiration for your world building?

Oh man, so I love FMA in every form (I’ve even read some of the light novels and played the video games when I was a teen — some people don’t even know there’s FMA games). I also really love TTRPGs, even 5e D&D… I know there’s better TTRPGs, but D&D will always have a place in my heart as my introduction to the world of TTRPGs! One day I was remembering Elric literally means in Old English/Germanic “Elf King” and “Noble Ruler” and I was like… that’s D&D as shit! Then my brain went that would be a good fic… if there’s an AU for this already I haven’t found it — or at least one I liked? I didn’t look super hard, tbh, so don’t come for me. But, every D&D build I’ve found is for characters inspired by him! So like, I was curious how to translate him and the other characters into the Forgotten Realms? And yeah… it got serious. And now I’m gonna write a fic for it. Because I have to do everything around here, ugh! Haha…

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them?

Edward is going to be similar to his manga/anime self: he wants to get Alphonse’s body back and maybe his arm and leg, too. By finding the philosopher’s stone. I might change the philosopher’s stone to something else… but, honestly? I don’t think I’ll need to! I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s an actual item in the game literature.

How many chapters is your story going to have?

Too many. At least 20, but probably, like, I wanna say 50+? I’m sick and twisted… and I have a lot to cover.

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Fanfiction! I write original work too (you should check out my original works on Ao3), but this is obviously fanfiction!

When did you start writing?

Like… in general? Since it was introduced in school as an activity. I got really proud of it when I won a creative writing contest in the 3rd grade and even got a little trophy for it. Dopamine filled my brain from that, so I kept chasing that high… by writing more, even if it wasn’t for school. Then I got into post by post roleplaying in the 5th grade hardcore and it was history! I write regularly now and I have for years! It’s one of the few things I really like and respect about myself. I’m confident in my writing prowess! Yay!

Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr?

Write for yourself, not others. It’s easy to get a high on others praising your work, but don’t let them sway your decisions too much — maybe if they’re a beta reader or someone you ask for advice it’s ok, but don’t do stuff specifically for someone to like it. That’s not really encouragement… uhh, your writing is valid! Even if it isn’t your primary skill or even your first language — it’s better to do than don’t when it’s creating in my opinion! There’s exceptions like (obviously) creating taboo art or stories that glorify, for example, pedophilia! But… you should create! It’s what makes us human! Do the thing! Even if you just write it and never publish it! It’s so valid and great! Beautiful!

Bye-bye! I’m not sure who I’d tag… but if anyone wants to, you can tag me if you do this question meme because you saw mine!

[youremyheaven]

I’m a Pushya sun and my ex was Uttara Phalguni sun and rising. When things were good they were GREAT, however when things were bad it was an absolute nightmare.

He was extremely judgemental towards my body count and sexual history. I told him if it’s a problem let’s just break up bc I literally cannot change it. He told me that I “wasn’t just some girl”, so he’ll have to overcome it. Proceeded to spend the majority of the relationship berating me for it, calling me a slut and a prostitute. He said the cruelest things a person has ever said to me. He said 99% of men would never love me and he was the 1% of idiots that did. When I finally cracked and went crazy and shouted at him, he held that over my head and i felt terrible for it. At that point we were smoking a lot of weed, and I could barely even process my emotions, it was terrible. I explained all the terrible symptoms I was experiencing and told him I would stop. All the symptoms I said, he told me is what he feels like all the time for years (because he had been smoking like this long before he met me). He told me he would stop as well. That was a lie.

He got super violent, would beat me up so badly during sex, would also pressure me into having sex with him - he would ask over and over and over again until I said yes. He also knew he was doing this cos one time he asked me if I felt pressured by him to have sex and I said yes and he got so angry AT ME for him pressuring me. There was an instance where he hit me across the head and it hurt so bad I had trouble hearing for days and I told him that he hit me too hard, my ears are ringing and he just giggled and said “I know”.

A month before our relationship ended I found out he had a tik tok account where he would post alpha male podcast clips (keep in mind we’re grown adults) - had no idea about this the entire relationship. Also, he pretty much lied to me about everything (granted he has a Rahu moon) even the most stupid things like liking anime for example. I just thought it was cringe and I didn’t watch it at all, and he lied and said he felt the same - come to find he had like anime pfp for a bunch of his online accounts. Lied to me about his family, where he came from, friends, romantic and sexual history, his interests, likes and dislikes, so many things. I had also found a message from a dating app on his phone.

The relationship ended after I found out he relapsed again and completely lied to me about it and was cancelling plans with me just to smoke and play video games with his friends. When I broke up with him, he begged me stay, said no one had ever loved and cared for him this much except for his mother, all of these things. Made me even more confused as to why he treated me like I was the devil then?? I was past the point of conversation so it was just a bad ending. He punched my mattress and told me I would regret leaving him. That was the last I ever saw him.

Goes without saying I learnt a bunch from that relationship! I’m pretty sure he hated my guts but I took care of him and met a lot of his basic needs (Maslow’s hierarchy) so he kept me around to fulfil them. I think he was also just possessive; he didn’t want me but more than that he didn’t want to see me with anyone else. Some of the worst days of my life were in this relationship but in a weird way I feel like this was Saturn teaching me a lesson - I was an idiot who literally forgot who I was for this relationship, made it my number one priority, and had zero self-esteem or self-advocacy. So many points where I should’ve walked away but I learnt the hard way. Never again!!

I am so glad you got out of that relationship!!! Please stay safe!!! Thank you so much for sharing your experience because in my own experiences my yoni consort has been toxic and abusive as well (it does not compare to yours at all tho). I wish you so much peace and healing. You're so strong 🫶

Side note: have you guys ever noticed how a Nodal person seems to be proud of/brag about their interests if at all they have any?? 8/10 they'll be lying about the depth of their involvement in it too lol?? Is it bc Nodal people find it hard to connect to things so when they do, they're just like 😤imma make this my whole personality 😤my ex spoke about how obsessed he was with Greek mythology and how much money he spent on Greek mythology books but he could never talk about it at length?? (he also had substance issues so i attributed it to that tbh)