#like this isn't a cool phobia either

[retrogradedreaming]

I love making art but every once in a while I make a thing I'm really proud of but then there's no good place to PUT it

[1moreff-creator]

hello my friend 1moreff-creator. today i was rewatching your vivisection of LGI video and came up with a related theory. it's about "subtract four due to tetraphobia."

arei is roman numeral 4. ace has phobias. could "subtract 4 due to tetraphobia" just be code for "ace subtracted arei due to his phobia of dying in the killing game?"

is it possible that it's literally that simple or do you think the surrounding context implies it has to mean something else

Hello my friend accirax. That's a pretty good interpretation! It's true that "subtract 4 due to tetraphobia" could mean "kill IV (Arei) due to fear" for the reasons you stated, and the theory holds up really well...

In a vacuum.

But like you mentioned, the surrounding context is an issue. Because the phrase itself is relatively innocent, but the problem has always been when it shows up more than anything else.

There are many places where your interpretation could fit perfectly. There's Teruko's numeral, as the number 4's connection to death makes it an unlucky number, and Teruko is Teruko. There's the whole section around Min's numeral, which references class trials and thus could be connected that way. Ace's numeral could have been a bit too spoilery, but it would technically work. And of course, the most obvious place to put it would have been next to Arei's numeral itself. And there's probably more places to put it, that's just the ones closest to the actual placement of the tetraphobia line.

But alas, "subtract 4 due to tetraphobia" isn't in any of those places. It appears here:

[Literature Girl Insane] XIV [Veronika]. Things like substance of the arts ["subtract 4, due to tetraphobia⁴" appears] XV [Whit]. Remaining ignorant, isn't that "happiness¹⁵"?

And... there's genuinely no clear connection to Arei's death here. Veronika and Whit both had nothing to do with it, "the substance of the arts" and the concept of "ignorance is bliss" don't connect in any clean way, and neither footnote really helps, as 4 just defines tetraphobia and 15 just talks about the origins of the "ignorance is bliss" concept. The color coding doesn't seem to help either, since despite what Tumblr makes it look due to the limited color range I have access to, none of the colors present in the scene can really be related to either Arei or Ace. If anything the fact most of the tetraphobia line is in pink just makes the Whit connection stronger. Hence the whole issue of 15 - 4 = 11 -> XI [Mai]. God is dead.

The connection between Arei and tetraphobia comes more from the fact that Arei has number IV in the first place, so I totally agree with you that the connection exists and that Arei was given that numeral explicitly to connect her to death, and I like the new connection you bring up of it specifically being death due to fear. But I don't think that means we can just hand wave away the context in which the tetraphobia line actually appears, especially when it's the only time two Roman numerals are on screen at the same time. It could mean nothing that it appears when it does, but it could also mean something, you know.

Alas, Whit has gotta take the allegations on this one, there's no way around it. Still, though, cool interpretation, thanks for sharing and thanks for the ask!

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 23 thoughts:

So much happened in so few chapters, how do I even break this down?!?

First off, Colin had better stop fucking bonding with my daughter! And apologizing and making amends for past wrongs! I'm a huge fan of redemption arcs and second chances and that is being used against me! JUST LET ME HATE THIS MAN!!!!!!

My bug daughter is in prison but that's almost like, a minor side thing? It barely matters right now except that it gives some background structure. Compared to everything else the prison bit is just . . . a thing.

I'm in tears over bug horse. I'm bawling. I may never recover. RIP Atlas, you were the best of us.

TAYLOR GOES TO THERAPY!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT IS EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED!!!!!!

I love Jessica so much! She does such a good job. I want to bake her cookies as thanks but I'm not sure if that would trigger some type of conflict of interest.

Fucking Glenn. I want to hate him and love him all at the same time.

Is he an artist? Absolutely! He has a vision and it is beautiful.

But also if it comes down to "letting the world end or compromising said vision" he might be the kind of person who would watch the world burn with a tear running down his cheek, because at least it was beautiful.

Look I get it. My daughter is terrifying. But that isn't because bugs are scary. It's cause my daughter is terrifying. Making her use butterflies just means a bunch of people are gonna start having butterfly phobias.

Like come on, Clockblocker gets to break fundamental forces of the universe and cause people to question their very existence!

Do not try to tell me that someone getting time frozen and just . . . skipping a chunk of time because their mind is not part of the time stream for a few minutes would not provoke some deep thoughts of existential dread! Sure not in everyone, but not everyone is scared of bugs either! I just think it's very unfair.

The Adepts are fun. Sure powers aren't "magic" but might as well have fun with the idea! Besides it seems to be working and if I had powers I'd absolutely love to lean into a magical focus idea.

I am quite upset about the fact that during the whole Thirteenth Hour thing Weaver didn't get to shove bugs down Clockblocker's throat to save him. It would have been so poetic. Saving the day by shoving bugs down throats was still super amazing, I just wanted it to be Clockblocker.

It was the most extreme level of active awareness and minor "control" while being disabled that we've seen from Taylor so far though! Really curious to get more into that, the nature of passengers/shards, and all those things. I have so many thoughts, but they're all just speculation right now (I don't think writing 75 pages of theories that all end up being wrong is really gonna be very helpful).

“If anyone asks, you kicked their asses with butterflies.” Clockblocker gets it!

It was really cool to get more into different vibes of the world with the Vegas section! I love me some thinkers and strangers.

I'm very glad The Number Man used a sniper rifle. I would have been a little disappointed if he didn't after getting into his head in his interlude - it is just the perfect weapon for him. Motherfucker over here just bouncing bullets.

Finally got to see more Bambina after the little bit in arc 8. Her power is wild, I love it! Also Bambina's mom just shot right into the top contenders for "worst parent in Worm". Like, WTF lady.

August Prince is wild. Sucks when the most effective use of your power is "human shield" though.

Considering she had an interaction with The Number Man and Contessa, Taylor actually came out of it pretty good! Sure they lost the target they were trying to bring in, but I don't know that they really had a chance of keeping Pretender. Contessa isn't easy to stop.

The only problem I have with the Las Vegas Wards actions is hiring Bambina to break Pretender free. Otherwise ya, fucking ditch the Protectorate. Given the information they have it makes sense.

TAYLOR HAS FAN MAIL!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Grue's letter was way to heartfelt. Tattletale clearly wrote most of it.

Like come on: "I could hit you, hug you, yell at you and hold onto you for hours all at the same time. It’s fitting that I want to kiss you and throttle you at the same time because that’s what you were to me for a long time. You drive me crazy and I can never understand what’s going through your head." This is totally Tattletale! She couldn't flirt with Taylor in her own letter, she had to be sneaky about it!

"You’re an idiot. I want you to know that. You’re an idiot, Skitter. You’re brilliant and reckless and I’m betting it makes sense to you to do this but you’re an idiot." - also Tattletale.

LOOK I'M GONNA MAKE THIS SHIT GAY AND THERE ISN'T ANYTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME!!!!!!!

Imp's letter might be my favorite.

Tattletale's actual letter ends with "See you there, hun?" Just. So fucking gay. Sorry I don't make the rules.

Speaking of gay, Rachel's letter!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wolfspider wolfspider wolfspider!

Like I mean come on

"Being around you wasn’t simple or quiet but things made more sense.  Your minion with dark hair said we need to be around people but I’m around people and still feel somethings missing." GAY

"Going to take puppies to your place again soon. Show the kids to them. Might help." SO GAY

"You have plan, okay. But if your plan means you’re thinking about fighting us you should know I am getting very good at hunting and skinning things." HOLY SHIT IT'S THE MOST LESBIAN THING EVER

"We both stay alive. Try hard." TOP-TIER GAY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!

GGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY

AND THE SCENE WITH THE CHILDREN!!! AND THE BUTTERFLIES! AND THE DICE!!!!!!!!!!!

dies of joy

Seriously, 23.4 is the most beautiful chapter in Worm so far and it'll be very hard for it to be outdone.

I could talk about just that chapter for pages. It was perfect in every way. Even if I knew it had to end with Behemoth pretty early on. There was too much hope in that chapter for it to end any other way.

But in the middle of all that downward "oh fuck it's Behemoth" stuff we got an Undersiders reunion! With so much gay!

Like - “But you guys mean a lot to me.  I’m sorry I didn’t say it before, but I couldn’t without letting on that something was going on.  You’re my family, in a way.  As lame as it might be, I love you guys.” My head turned from Grue to Rachel to Tattletale as I said it.

SO FUCKING GAY

She starts at Grue sure but ends with Rachel and Lisa when saying "I love you". Certified gay.

So gay that even Imp agrees! Though I've been doing the long drawn out “Gaaaaaaayyyyyyy” since like arc 2. So Imp is a bit behind the curve here.

TAYLOR WANTS TO GO ON A DOG PARK DATE WITH RACHEL! IT'S THE MOST LESBIAN DATE POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!

Weaver's new flight suit is pretty neat. Dragon is a pretty good big sister.

Cody Interlude thoughts:

THIS motherfucker! I was waiting for him to show up again.

I am so mad. I'm so fucking mad.

Cody is the worst. He's pathetic and dumb.

And Accord just has to go and get killed by him in the dumbest way! GOD DAMMIT ACCORD I SIMPED FOR YOU SO HARD!!! AND THEN YOU DIE TO CODY! OF ALL PEOPLE! YOU CAN'T BE COOL IF YOU DIE TO CODY!

Chevy too! I thought he was cool and all, but he had to die to Cody. God. The worst.

ALSO MY BABY GIRL HE TRIED TO HURT MY BABY! THE ONE WHO ISN'T MY DAUGHTER!

SOMEBODY HELP TATTLETALE!

I did like seeing more of the mechanics of the Yàngbǎn after getting hints about how they work in the Lung interlude.

The power sharing plus the power amplification is a pretty broken combo tbh. Feels like there is some pretty neat stuff that could be accomplished with that.

Fuck this man though. Simmy just had to whisper to him and just dove right in. Cody can't even conceptualize what fighting back means, that would require him to grow as a person in literally any way.

Sucks for the Behemoth fight though. I guess my daughters are going to have to save the day. Again.

[ttrpgcafe]

Heya! TTRPG trick or treat, please! 🎃👻

This one's got a backstory, so stick with me.

When I first got into TTRPGs, I learned about the big 6: D&D, Pathfinder, CoC, Cyberpunk, WoD, and Shadowrun. Of those, I've still, to this day, only played 5, and Shadowrun has remained the odd man out, despite having probably my favorite setting of all of them after Pathfinder. Part of this is its reputation for being a really crunchy game, keeping me from getting players, and part of it was that it's a very crunchy game that explains its rules SO POORLY (in recent editions at least, I'm told 3rd is the best in this department) that I couldn't even really convince my friends to get over the hump because it's hard for ME to grok the rules.

For well over a decade, Shadowrun has been my white whale, always on my shelf, never my table. So I did what any other well meaning TTRPG player does when they have a setting they like but a system for that setting they hate: I looked at every hack on the planet for every other system.

So here's your treat: every Shadowrun hack I've found!

Up first, Runners in the Shadows by Mark Cleveland:

This is a Forged in the Dark hack for the Shadowrun setting that is probably one of the better ones for emulating the "crew going on heists and doing cool shit" vibes that Shadowrun tries really hard to say is its core. I'm a sucker for FitD games in general, I think the system is *so* elegant, and I struggle to find a system more suited for the setting (SR's own rules included) than Blades, so this one has to go at the top.

With that said, there are still plenty more!

I'm going to give 2 PbtA games a shout out here, the first I've played, the second I haven't, but have heard plenty about.

Up first: City of Mist!

"But that's not a shadowrun hack!" I hear you saying behind your screen, and you're almost right, it technically isn't, BUT it's asymptote certainly approaches shadowrun, for my math nerds out there. This is a game about the (literal) power of stories, about struggles against an unseen and unknowable force trying desperately to remove every semblance of magic from your life, and about the yearning to keep your mundane life despite, or maybe in spite of, your magical adventures. City of Mist proper is a fantastic gritty noir urban fantasy game that works wonderfully as the framework for an early 6th world setting with minor tweaks, but it's sequel: Metro Otherscape, leans into the Shadowrun of it all, adding a 3rd axis along which your character can struggle, being "noise". In Otherscape, you're balancing a mundane, magical, technological life, and trying not to let any of those three overwhelm your being. A lot of cyberpunk games try to say that cybernetics reduce your humanity in one way or another, but I think Otherscape does the best job at embodying that balance in a way that isn't deeply ableist in its messaging. It's ALSO the only PbtA game I actually LIKE.

Hot take: I can't stand Moves, they annoy me to no end, and needlessly complicate an otherwise brilliant system. I might make a follow up post if anyone wants to hear my deeply bad take, but for now, just know that I'm a ttrpg heretic, and we can move on.

Otherscape completely does away with moves, and instead just lets the MC and the players decide whatever is most relevant to the action being attempted! It solves almost every problem I've ever had with PbtA games, AND kicks ass as a shadowrun stand-in, so this also deserves a place at or near the top.

Second PbtA game: Shadowrun in The Sprawl. This one is a hack of The Sprawl, a PbtA cyberpunk game in its own right, SRiTS adds the setting and magic of SR to its formula, and that's all I know about either system, due to my aforementioned PbtA-phobia. I've included this one for thoroughness, not because I have any stake in it.

Most of the other hacks I've seen use generic systems like Fate, Savage World, Cypher system, Genesys, and a hero system hack I've heard a bit about but can't find anywhere. All of this is to say that there is a wealth of options for generic systems that try to emulate SR, and most of them are fine. The last game I'm going to talk about though uses its own system, its own setting, and manages to be completely, utterly unique while capturing the vibes of SR so well that I'm still a little in awe at how well it does all of the above. I'm also not 100% certain it's a particularly good game, but the fact that I'm unsure about it should tell you that it's definitely still better than SR proper, because I KNOW that system is bad.

Without further ado: NewEdo

NewEdo is fascinating to me in that it feels like the same jump from Shadowrun that 3rd edition D&D made from 2e, or even the same kind of jump from 3rd to 4th, where you can clearly see the spine of the game it's evolving, but almost every other part of the system has been changed and improved in new, interesting ways that can still be used to tell VERY similar stories, but has its own identity at the same time. I mentioned that City of Mist is Asymptotic to SR earlier, and I stand by that assessment, but I'd say that NewEdo is closer to a parallel line, or a tangent from SR's line, if we're using the same terminology. To get into the nitty gritty, NE uses a system the author describes as "Crunchy lite easily managed", which amounts to a priority system during character creation very similar to the one SR uses, but with each tier you can select having pretty impactful ramifications for your character going forward. The easiest example is the modifications priority, at its top tier, you basically make a mythical creature into robo cop for your character's ancestry, but at its absolute lowest tier, your body actively rejects any and all implants, such that your character will NEVER have implants. On the same note, cyberware is handled REALLY well, with your body only being able to handle so much at a time, but otherwise the only ramification is a "biofeedback" line on your fate card, which I'll get to right now!

Almost every option your character picks gets added to a little personalized random d100 table on your character sheet called the fate card. This includes your character's crit rate, the possibility of a deity intervening on your behalf, or the aforementioned biofeedback line, which briefly fucks you up as you cyberware malfunctions. You get new lines on your fate card through picking certain character options, making impactful decisions during the story, and otherwise fulfilling the express goals of your character. The entire system kind of hinges on the fate card as a mechanic, which is weird, because I don't think I super love it, as it adds additional rolling to an already pretty dice heavy system.

Which brings me to the dice! New edo uses a d10 as its primary die for dice pools when rolling your characteristics like strength, speed, etc, but the rest of the polyhedral family for your skills. (D20 excluded) The skill system is a little funky, but I like it. Basically, each skill has a rank, which indicates how many dice it has, but each rank is assigned a die, each having a different cost associated with it. So my swordsmanship could be rank 4, but what that really means is that I've got 1d6, 2d4, and a d8 that I get to add to my strength rolls every time I attack with a sword. As far as resolution, you total all of your dice together to try and hit a target number. I don't have the table handy, but it's something like 15 for a moderately challenging task, and up to 40 for a nearly impossible task. I dislike addition in this context because math at the table usually slows things down, but it looks like you're probably only rolling 2-5 dice at a time at the beginning, which isn't *that* bad.

You'll notice that the two major mechanics I've mentioned so far have received pretty luke-warm responses from me, and that sounds like I hate the system, but those aren't that makes me like (\love?) this system is the back end, the choices that happen during character creation, and the things that those choices let you do. Every skill is attached to feats that unlock at different skills, magic is a skill, and its feats unlock better relationships with the Kami in your repertoire (magic is up next, I promise) and your class (path, they call it) doubles as a way to tie your character to the world, with each being associated with an in world faction which gives your character an immediate stake in the world and their community. It's a lot, but it all comes together to make something greater than the sum of its parts.

The last thing I want to talk about is the magic system, because I found it deeply interesting, as it's one of the very few skill based magic systems I've interacted with, and one of my favorites on a narrative level. Instead of spells or spell schools, your character instead develops relationships with Kami, and each new "order" or "type" of Kami your character gets access to represents them finding out how to supplicate, make an offering, or otherwise convince a given Kami to do a certain effect. If you have a relationship with the fire Kami (that's plural, not singular), then your character has learned that their local fire Kami really like a certain type of hot bun, so they offer them that hot bun after a scene where they invoked those kami, to maintain their relationship. Mechanically, this works instantaneously, you simply make a roll on your "Shinpi" skill, invoke whatever "rote" you want to use, and the relationship building is left for the GM and player to work out at the table.

(That's the last I have to say on the game itself, but I would ask anyone who has read the game and is more intimately familiar with Japanese culture to tell me if the game feels respectful to that culture, because I truly don't know, and the book doesn't list any sensitivity consultants. The author is Canadian, but spent many years sailing to and from Japan as a professional sailor, so idk. )

I guess the moral to this post, if there is one, is to acknowledge when a system or setting has faults, but learn from them, and don't ignore the good or cool stuff that's there! It might inspire you to make some amazing shit like City of Mist, Metro Otherscape, or New Edo, all of which, their relationship to Shadowrun aside, are fantastic games in their own right! (NewEdo is still up in the air, but it has its teeth in me, and that has to count for something)

That ends my trick or treat, thanks for asking!

[redcomet-stims]

Hullo internet people, I've decided to make a sideblog to try making stimboards, just wanna keep everything organised :)

This blog has NO DNI, and will take ALMOST any request you want. With that, though, comes no discourse. Or arguments. I want to make visually stimulating moodboards, not fight with you.

I'm not completely child-safe all the time...but I'm not NSFW at all...I'll take requests with "adult" sources, but won't use blatantly adult content at all :)

Do not expect consistent posting, but I try to post frequently!

Also, if you are requesting a character that isn't from something in my fandoms list, I would prefer you add a theme(s) (or maybe tell me a bit about the character if you so desire 🤫). It's not required, but it would be nice and would help me out! If you don't, I'll be fine though, but I might have a few inaccuracies, may go more off of appearance, or generally may not make something as high-quality as I could. I'll try my best to gather information and make it accurate nevertheless ^^

And just a note: if the things I write on my stimboards don't make sense, are rambly, or sound weird, it's probably because I make a lot of my stimboards late at night 😭 I am a massive night owl and like working on them later in the day because I feel like I can focus better on them, but sadly I am also not always the greatest at putting out my thoughts coherently at night 🙏 And yeah my image IDs might not always be the best due to working on them later too (or because I just genuinely don't know what the actual hell something is)

Inbox: 10

Marius Pontmercy (Les Miserables) with the color blue, flowers, and books for anon

Fafnir (Fire Emblem Heroes) for anon

Tsukasa Tenma (PJSK) with themes of pianos for anon (there was no last name provided so I am only assuming they were talking about Tsukasa Tenma)

Meroune Lorelei (Monster Musume) stimboard for anon

Scott Pilgrim/Wallace Wells (Scott Pilgrim) stimboard with old video games, sweaters, alcohol, fidget toys, and NO slime for 🎸🪿 anon

The Jester (Figment 2: Creed Valley) stimboard for anon

Ame-chan & K-Angel (NSO) stimboard themed around love for @/johnlocsin-johnyakuza

p.AI.nter (Pressure) stimboard with themes of paint and landscapes for anon

Natural Harmonia Gropius (Pokemon) stimboard for anon

Requests: Open

If I forget warnings, I'm so sorry and I'll edit it in as soon as possible.

I don't warn for hands, food, and uncommon phobias, but I will ALWAYS warn for blades/other weapons, medical imagery, gore/blood (fake or not), and flashing images!!!

My older boards don't have alt texts as of the moment!

Blacklist, whitelist, and fandom list under the cut so that this post doesn't IMMEDIATELY look a mile long!

My blacklist and whitelist! My blacklist is stuff I either don't feel qualified to do or just don't WANT to do. My whitelist is stuff I would love to do or am interested in.

---

Blacklist (only a few things):

Countryballs/Countryhumans (Hetalia is cool, though ^w^)

Agere/petre boards for fandoms I'm not familiar with or don't have a theme

Shipping real people

Zoophilic, incestuous, or larger minor/adult age-gap ships (This rule does not apply to vocal synths, since they usually have no canon.) (Also, if you want to request a ship that falls in this criteria and is from a fandom in my fandoms list, you're free to ask, just know I might decline.) (And I have nothing against y'all by the way I just have no idea if I'd end up wanting to make something involving that type of thing idk)

Whitelist:

Anything on my fandoms list, of course

Pride flags

Ships, as long as it's easy to find information on them!

Alterhuman stuff (FYI, alterhumans (fictionkin and otherkin specifically), I'm one of y'all 😁👍)

Real people and V-tubers, as long as it's not in a weird way.

NSFW sources, but only if it would be relatively easy to find SFW pictures

Sources that people usually don't accept (whatever people put on their blacklists all the time, idk. I see Hazbin Hotel and Boyfriend to Death and stuff like that all the time on those lists so stuff like that?)

Niche medias!!! I wanna know!!!

Music-themed boards

Slightly suggestive themes (no sexual nudity involved please why would I want to put that)

Fandoms:

Vocaloid/vocal synths in general

Touhou Project

Mobile Suit Gundam

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Cowboy Bebop

Toilet-bound Hanako-kun

Project Diva

Needy Streamer Overload

Project Sekai

Bandori

Idolmaster

Girls und Panzer

Hetalia...

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Urusei Yatsura

If what you wanted to request doesn't fit the whitelist or fandom list but isn't in the blacklist, STILL feel free to request!

[lazlolullaby]

Intersex Terry Mcginnis

Because I've seen fantastic non-binary Terry from @theycallme-ook and their series, I've seen this gorgeous transmasc Terry from this fic, crown of neon, and @jasontoddssuper with their transfem Butch Terry agenda and hot damn is it great.

(btw using he/him for Terry because that's what the show did.)

Whatever he is, he cisn't.

This is all in the name of trying to incorporate the VERY late game (I truly mean last episode with him ever so it never impacts any other plot just a wrap up theme and thesis statement on Heroism) twist and have it inform his whole - teenage attitude and everything.

so. uh. let's dive.

General warning for intersexism, queer phobia, messing with gender and such. Divorce. Cadmus manipulating people. The violation of consent that's inherent in making someone give birth to and raise a child designed to be a legacy vigilante without them knowing.

Genetic alteration isn't all that it's cracked up to be. It's DNA testing, it's virus loads and constant correction, it's incorporating extra violet genes into flowers and them rejecting them completely and going blank white.

I know it's the DCAU, with Manbat being the first episode, animal chimeras being created all throughout but, fantastic science that let the plot move but. It was the 90s and the early 2000s. on our side the human genome project started in 1985, was partially complete in 2003, and only fully completed in 2022! Cadmus is cutting it close.

there's a lot of room for error, here.

The alterations done to Warren's DNA were sketchy at best. Lots of sperm failed after the nano machines got to them. It was difficult for Mary and Warren to conceive, which is why Terry and Matt are so far apart in age. That put stress on their relationship, not including that the kids don't even look like Warren either.

Mary and Warren were very happy that Terry came to term without major problems. He wasn't visibly intersex until he was born, but because it's the Future TM, they ran the DNA to screen for any major disorders. Terry comes out chimera style intersex, with different DNA depending on where you take the sample. His hormones are giving him a mix of traits that make him ambiguous.

((yeah this is specific but shush: Terry can't naturally grow a beard. (Not like he wants to, he's heard his mom complain too many times about his dad's face bristles to be excited about getting his own.) People generally do a double take with him. "I ate my sister in the womb." Is the snappy answer he likes to give. "she left me with some things."))

The Future is a little more forgiving, there's some paperwork and not much pressure for the parents to put him through infant surgery.

And then we get to Matt. Because Terry was difficult, the parents sought out a fertility clinic to get Matt as good a start as possible.

Terry is angry at first, that he's a genetic mess and they had to go to a clinic to get a "real boy". That they tried to have a "good kid" but it couldn't fix their relationship. That even Matt didn't turn out right; A "clerical error" gives Matt an "anonymous donor" as a father instead of Warren.

It's building up with bunch of smaller things - having to explain their gender every so often, being confused with older buildings with split gender bathrooms and teachers treating him different depending on his perceived gender.

It was clear that the grace period ran out. He just - was given an ultimatum. Guy or girl. There's also some manipulation on Cadmus's part - can't be Batman without being a man...right?

and It's Gotham. Having a healthy vision of masculinity is not going to happen. So to protect himself Terry decides to be a Guy. A Real Cool Guy.

But it's not clicking. He's not comfortable. His parents tell him that he can be "whatever kind of man he wants" but that's still vague.

All this gender identity frustration builds up with his general teenage "pushing boundaries" and "parents arguing" leads him to hang with the wrong crowds.

and that's how he lands in juvie. He ends up calming down, putting himself into a box of "reformed good bad boy" and "I'm committing to the bit." and just dealing. Being a man like Warren is trying to teach him and not just...staying an unknown variable.

Now we incorporate Neo Batman and Bruce. Who have a very strict set of rules about what or who Batman is meant to be. And in a way, it's freeing his head to think about who Terry is outside of the cowl. Bruce is also a Queer Elder, he's seen plenty of people work through their identities and he works with Terry to find a label that fits.

That it doesn't have to be all or nothing, that it can change over time.

Experimentation is expected of teenagers. Splicing is a flat no because of his already precarious genetic status. And Terry likes hanging with his girls that are friends and his girlfriend. He does a mean eyeliner too. Terry is a lot happier.

Mary sighs "is this some late teenage rebellion against your father?"

"I...really don't know what he'd think. This isn't a spite thing. But I don't think he did - or you did anything wrong. It just took me some time to get out of my own head and realize."

"Well. You look settled. He'd be proud of you."

"Thanks ma."

[clayvedevs]

Thanks for tagging me liz @steffigraf for the get to know me tag game <3

1. Do you make your bed?

Absolutely. If i don't then it'll bug me every time i look at it

2. Favourite number?

Probably either 7 for feanorian related reasons or 2 because that's the number i assign x to in maths exams when i can't actually work x out. It's worked for me like 70% of the time

3. What's your job?

Uni student full time, but i'm hoping to get a part time job somewhere. Those student fees don't pay themselves lmao

4. If you could go back to school, would you?

This may be rose tinted glasses, but my high school wasn't that bad if we ignored some things. Yeah nah i'm not going back

5. Can you parallel park?

If there's no cars or just one car on one of the ends then yes, but if there's a car in front and behind me, no

6. Do you think aliens are real?

I like to think that there's someone out there. Maybe they're just too far away to contact, or maybe they're only in their paleozoic era

7. Can you drive a manual car?

Nope because we didn't own a manual car when i learnt to drive. But if we did then i would've liked to learn on a manual because i reckon manual cars are making a comeback

8. Guilty pleasure?

I don't know what's considered "cringe" these days, but i like to listen to history and pop culture podcasts if that counts. Also buying study snacks, which isn't exactly a guilty pleasure per se, but i feel guilty when i look at my bank account after the purchase hehe

9. Tattoos?

None. I can't even commit to a tumblr url so yeah i don't think i should be making any those sorts of decisions yet

10. Favourite colour?

Red and orange, but i've got a lot of green in my closet

11. Favourite type of music?

Rock maybe, or soft rock. But i've been listening to a lot of soul and latin music lately. I used to be a massive theatre kid and would listen to cast recordings of musicals religiously

12. Do you like puzzles?

I love puzzles and games and escape rooms and yeah

13. Any phobias?

Not really i think. Nothing too big that it's considered a phobia

14. Favourite childhood sport?

It's kinda ironic that i used to play tennis as a kid and i hated it asdfghjk. Now I wish my parents pushed me more to play comps and stuff but i'm getting back into the swing of things! Now it's my favourite sport to play. I've always loved watching tennis though

I guess swimming when i was younger maybe? I was quite good back in the day (year 7), but i never did squad. And maybe field hockey, but i've only ever played that in school sport but that was always fun

15. Do you talk to yourself?

Sometimes when i'm doing school work and i need to talk myself through my process lol

16. Tea or coffee?

Tea, but coffee's been growing on me recently. I really want to try vietnamese egg coffee, but i've heard that stuff is pretty strong. Vietnamese egg hot chocolate is very good though. Highly recomend

17. First thing you wanted to be when growing up?

Archaeologist. I still think it'd be very cool. What can i say? Indiana jones and the mummy was formative for me growing up. Evelyn o'connell my beloved

18. What movies do you adore?

I love a good adventure movie, like the ones i mentioned earlier. Also murder mysteries, agatha christie or otherwise

Tagging: @fritzes @swiateks @veesmiley @hubillusion @bluespring864 @aliassimes @tennispilled @sincaraz @rodlaveraryna @sinnerruud @pencildragons @eccentricmya @kingfisherprince and any one who wants to try it out!

[catty-smartypants]

Hi, I want to make a post to introduce my Fear and Hunger Termina OC!

Firstly tho, this awesome art isn't mine, it's made by:

Please check them out. They are so cool!

Her name is Edith Benonette, and she possesses the Ancient Soul. She's 40 years old.

Gameplay:

[Starts with a permanent -15% accuracy and foggy view (the latter removed by wearing glasses), incurable by Sylvan ring]

Skills:

Composure - Passive skill, ignores tension caused by enemies and slows mind loss in overworld (twice the time needed)

Prayer - Active skill [Regain 20 mind, remove a stage of fear and phobia stat effects, on self, but inflict bleeding, requires an Alll-mer sigil, increases affinity with Alll-mer "A ritual nuns often perform at churches, inflicting harm to themselves to forget about impure and unbecoming thoughts."

Libriographic insight - [At the cost of mind is able to select any* desired book from bookshelves that haven't been checked before] *The books Pocketcat sells, the mind price of books is 20 times the heads price of Pocketcat.

Appraisal - An active skill, [costs 35 mind] which allows to appraise an item, giving a bit of lore behind it and adds [+50%] of the stat buffs and effects of any equipment (except Beheaded Wizard [special dialogue between Edith and Nas'hrah if done]).

Entrepreneurial spirit - Passive skill, can sell items back to the vendors that sell it too [-20% of the buying price]. Can haggle to buy items cheaper [by 20% off the price] from vendors, the success of that is determined by a coin flip.

Starting items:

Coin Purse [+10 M. Defense, 75% Otherworldly] - "A small, round pounch with a long, beaded string securing it on its wearer. It allows the wearer to store as much coin on them as they can find." [If worn no coin limit]

Lotus Hat [+1 M. Defense 80% Otherworldly] - "An antique luxurious wool hat, with a decorative, sewn, lotus flower. It is said the white lotus represents peace and spiritual perfection"

Shirtwaist dress [+2 M. Defense +1 P. Defense 75% Slashing 70% Otherworldly] - "An old but luxurious and expensive emerald wool dress"

Broken Eyeglasses

As THE chosen character:

Story:

[An animation of Edith smoking by an open window, followed by:]

The soothing sound of the railtracks... You are not used to such peaceful and tramquil atmosphere. You were born in a prestigious noble family from Rondon, both your mother and father coming from old dynasties.

As the oldest child of theirs you were afforded no time for childhood innocence,

you were not allowed to play or go outside without supervision neither to talk with anyone your parents didn't see fit.

Your father hired a dozen of tutors that taught you subjects ranging from playing the violin to economics.

You hated it,

each day felt like you were trapped in a maze, walking the corridors of your family's estate while looking outside, seeing the commoners' children enjoying life made you jealous.

You have begged your mother and father to allow you to go outside, even only to attend a prestigious school.

After years of convincing, at your 14th birthday, you were given a choice.

You either went to a nun covent or at a prestigious boarding school. You chose the...

Nun covent [You learned Prayer]

Boarding school [You learned Composure]

After finishing your studies you returned home.

You would've missed the place if you weren't expected to follow the old rules.

And if your parents didn't arrange a marriage for you,

your future husband was a brash, ignorant and old factory owner. Your family prospered from the shared income while you moved in with him.

By comparison the years spend in the estate were a holiday. You were to attend endless balls, ceremonies, speeches with your husband.

While at home, you endure his violent lash-outs. You couldn't do much to stop it,

not only you had a reputation to maintain but also, you had nobody to rely on. The only distraction from reality was:

Burying yourself in books [You learned Libriographic insight]

Collecting relics of the past [You learned Appraisal]

However, your relief didn't come without a price.

As you spend nights, collecting the few things that brought you comfort, you could see more and more a weird fog surrounding you.

A visit to the doctor revealed that your sight was deteriorating due to stress. You began wearing glasses.

As the war started, your nation was dragged into it and so the economy took a big hit,

your husband's business was failing, and he was never good at holding his anger down,

your life became hell, you couldn't even rely on your past activities anymore. You were thinking to end it all one night,

you went to the housekeeper's area and looked for any poison,

your search was stopped by the housekeeper,

your excuses didn't stand a chance as tears rolled explaining your situation.

She hugged you and showed were the poison was, before giving it to you, telling you a better way of using it.

You waited for the opportunity, and it came,

your husband has invited serval potential investors at your place, a big dinner was supposed to be happening.

You were forbidden to participate but that only gave you a better alibi.

You asked the housekeeper to show you his goblet, and poured the poison in the drink.

The next morning, your husband was found dead, chocked in his own vomit. Since the death cause was asphyxiation, you were off the hooks of suspicion.

And so, you were saved,

you had to pretend you mourned, but the tears you rolled at his funeral, were tears of joy, and pain, for all the years wasted on him.

But now you had to decide on the fate of, now your, business...

You decided to sell it [You gain 200 shillings]

You decided to keep it [You learn Entrepreneurial spirit]

No matter your decision you were decided to begin anew.

You knew your freedom in society was limited to your status, so like before you were stuck in a golden birdcage.

Economical competition is a cruel and unjust game, one you had to shove your sentimentality aside to keep playing in.

You have heard of the war's end, and of the recent rumors of a peace deal between the Bremen Army and the Eastern Union,

this opened a opportunity,

Bohemia was known to be rather undeveloped,

and with the war over, no local enterprises were strong enough to suffice a bigger economy.

If you bought assets from it, it would be a long-term investment. How did you prepare for the trip?

Medical goods [gain 2 light blue vials and 4 cloth fragments]

Food [gain 9 Mushroom stew and 6 meatpie]

Luxury items [gain 1 Pipe, 5 Tobacco and 3 wine vial]

[SKIPPED TILL HERE, if skipped traits received: Prayer, Libiographic Insight, Entrepreneurial spirit and Luxury items]

[An animation would happen where the glasses would drop down and Edith would pick them up]

The lenses shattered. With luck, you'll be able to buy new ones in town."

As NOT the chosen character:

Day 1

She is one of the few characters who do not appear at the gathering outside the train. Instead, the player finds her smoking by the window of the first carriage from the exit. When interacting with her before the gathering, she would have a short dialogue where she dismisses the player, telling them to go outside at the gathering. Once the player does get out to the gathering, no matter if she was interacted with or not, she would be standing right by the door, still smoking. She will not introduce herself but leave right after the dialogue. Talking with her as she leaves let's the player hear her mumble about Tanaka calling him a "competitor" and walking a shorter path than him.

Next time the player meets her is at the mayor's mansion. She would be in the library, there, she is found reading a book. The player can choose to either talk or attack her. Attacking her would lead to a battle, with The Avare scoffing at the player character. If she is not killed or both of her legs are intact after one turn, however, she would run away. You can catch her, but if she exits the manor, she disappears for now. If talked with, she would complain about the poor state the books are kept, commenting on the amount of bent corners and indentations on covers. She also asks the player for a random non-tutorial or functional book. If the player finds it or has it, they can offer it to her, in return she would join the party. If Henryk isn't saved or the Dark priest gets aggroed and she isn't recruited or killed, she would disappear from the mansion.

From Day 2

In the morning till the afternoon, she can be found at Dr. Kefer's store, at the side, reading, talking with her there she implies that she made some under the table deals with them. When asked to be recruited again, she passive aggressively rejects, stating that she can manage on her own from now on. If you had attacked her in the Mayor's Mansion, and she escaped, she would give the player a cold shoulder.

If the player character has aggroed the Dark Priest or The Gentleman appeared before she could be recruited, she would be found instead in the Church of Alll-mer, in the first room sitting in the left-front pew. Her dialogue here is different, she tells the player that she was forced to believe in Alll-mer, but he only pretended to, until this day, she tells the player that there cannot be a logical or optimistic explanation to anything happening in this town. If the player places an effigy on the stand with her alive and present in the room, next time the player enters the room, she will be found inspecting them, talking with her will reveal the origin of these effigies. If the player places all 3 of them, she says she impressed with their feat and propose to become part of the party. If the player refuses or has no available party slots, she says she will be waiting here if they change their mind. She will stay here until Day 2 Night, being available for (free) recruiting.

Here, the player can attack her. If attacked in the Mayor's Mansion or here, she would run in the right room of the Church, if the player doesn't catch to her, she would be gone, if the Chandelier hasn't been dropped or the gate to the basement is locked she will lock herself in the confessional pew, the player won't be able to open the confessional, if O'saa happens to be I'm the confessional too, interacting with his side of the pew will lead to O'saa berating the player for being such a careless hunter, his door too, not opening. If the gate to the basement is opened, she would be gone, but if only the chandelier was drooped she would be hiding in the confessional booth, until the player interacts with the hole caused by the chandelier, upon doing so a cutscene would be triggered of Edith stepping out the confessional and pushing the player down the hole.

MOONSCORCHED FORM

If not killed before Day 2 Night, Edith will become Moonscorched. Her moonscorched form is called:

The Caged Magpie

In this form, she transforms into a grotesque anthropomorphic magpie, alike the Valkyre.

Her entire body is encased, however, in a golden birdcage, where she can only stand with her head hunched forward. Her arms become long, bare wings, her palm still exists though deformed, it tightly holds onto the bars of the cage, as if trying to break them. Her head is shadowed in the cage, however two, piercing green lights can be seen from where the eyes should be, and a big golden beak that pokes out of the enclosure menacingly. Her legs seem the only part of the body partialy out the cage, with two holes letting half of her, now, bird legs out. The birdcage itself seems to be out of lead, with gold paint that peels off it, the cage has no door handle or any forms of exit, only a broken hook on top. At the bottom of the cage, a pile of artifacts, trinkets, and coins shimmer.

The Caged Magpie prefers to stalk parts of towns near shops and vendors. Once in the same location of her, a flavor text: "You hear a metal rustle" and sounds of Eurasian magpie calls while there. If you dont leave the screen, enter a shop or talk to a vendor she will slowly approach the player, it will hop, stalking them and will steal one item the player has equiped if they stand unmoving for more than 7 seconds, after that she will promptly fly away, if the player instead tries to approach it, Magpie will run away alike a scared chicken. If you enter a shop or talk to a vendor as soon as you exit the shop/conversation, the Magpie will fly towards you initiating a fight.

In the fight, the Magpie's body parts do one attack each:

Her legs do a one-character powerful hit called "Digging the dirt", however, this attack is only performed every 2nd turn.

Her arms do a weak one-character attack called "Slap on the wrist", however, there is a 5% chance the Magpie, instead of attacking does a "Acquire" action, which steals one of a character's equipment.

Her beak performs a coinflip attack called "Peck", which is a reference to Crow Mauler's iconic attack. The player will be warned 1 turned before it with a flavor text: "The Magpie seems to shift its head in the cage"

The player can attack the aforementioned body parts and break them. However, her body is protected by a birdcage, which has a lot of HP. Once all the other body parts have been broken, the Magpie will have only one attack "Shove", which deals little damage.

Upon defeating her in combat, you can loot her corpse to get all your lost equipment to her, be it outside or during the fight, alongside a Coin Purse and 99 shillings.

I might make more posts about her, like other character interactions and more about her Moonscorched form!

[daemon-in-my-head]

OC profile: Ellifain

Got tagged by @wafflerageface (ty 💕), @sakurainhellagain @asteriasfallingstarsandtears @kawareo have fun if y'all want, or those that want to do this feel tagged rn

Basics

Full name: Yeah, about that, do you want the alias, the name he went with mainly or the true name? I might've gone overboard here. Ellifain is an alias he uses cuz reasons, the name he's registered as a citizen with and the one his family gave him would be Fionnlagh Starym, there's a whole ass backstory about his name, why he isn't using it, if he ever uses it again etc but too much for here. Feel free to ask though. Oh but, Gortash kinda knows his name? Listen y'all it's complicated. I like it when they suffer.

Gender: Male but is too busy having an identity crisis to care for it

Sexuality: aspec

Pronouns: he/him/they, doesn't really care for the same reason as above though

Other

Father: biological; Bhaal, adopted; Anfalen Starym

Mother: biological; Bhaal(?), adopted; Saelihn Starym

Siblings: biological; Sarevok Anchev, adopted; Elanil Starym. Orin is just a niece, she's not Bhaals kid (though he does treat her like a sister)

Birthplace: praise the vague canon, I suppose he was created in Gehenna before Bhaal dropped him like a hot stone in the Gate

Job: Cult leader

Phobias: being viewed as Faithless or False, the cold

Guilty Pleasures: 'artistic' worship, dancing, sitting in the sun like a lizard, playing with Cadis

Alignment: neutral evil with chaotic tendencies

Sins: vivisections, murder, extortion, blackmail, skipping the fine prints, skipping work, arrogance, do you need the whole list or does this suffice?

Virtues: protectiveness (he's really not a good guy)

This or That

Introvert/Extrovert: Extroverted introvert(?), prefers to keep to himself or his small group of people he does not hate, but can be charming and extroverted in a rather manipulative fashion if duties require

Organized/Disorganized: Organized, not thanks to Scels help

Close-Minded/Open-Minded: Very open-minded, for better or worse. Please stop eating people that's not a balanced diet.

Calm/Anxious/Restless: Restless, can't sit still for 5 minutes. Needs to fiddle with something if he's not occupied

Disagreeable/Agreeable/In-Between: In-Between, will hear you out but if he considers your idea to be foolish he will call you out and become incredibly stubborn about it

Cautious/Reckless: Reckless. Does not give a damn as long as only he's involved, if others could be put into unfortunate situations however he'll reconsider and be somewhat careful. If he likes them that is

Patient/Impatient/In between: Patient, he'll get what he wants eventually, one way or another

Outspoken/Reserved/In between: Reserved, he will not talk or say more than he has to in order to convey his point. Local tyrants hate this trick.

Leader/Follower/Flexible: Flexible but prefers to lead

Empathetic/Unempethic/In between: In between, tries his best to be empathic but some things he simply can't comprehend or refuses to cuz of his own past

Traditional/Modern/In between: In between, mainly traditional but isn't afraid of introducing new things to the cult or his life

Hard working/Lazy: Hard working, solely cuz he avoids sleep and can't sit still for 5 minutes. Lounging is his archenemy

Relationships

OTP: Gortash. Duh. Though things happened with a certain Drow in between

BrOTP: Astarion, platonic murder worsties, finally an elf that doesn't look at his appearance with disdain cuz they're the same in that regard. Lae'zel is cool too, they could share beautiful moments of identity crisis together

NOTP: Shadowheart, she's a constant painful reminder of the memories he's lost, oddly enough something he'd rather forget (his whole stick is running from uncomfortable truths lol) edit; also he has that whole Sehanine and moon bit going on so Shart thought he's a selunite, didn't go well for either of them lmao

[luckystarchild]

how different would be lucky if if you had chosen maya as your self insert instead of keiko? what would u have named the story?

I considered using Maya, actually! Not too seriously (Keiko made more sense for the story I was intending to tell, and that was obvious from the jump), but still. A few people have asked this question over the years; there's even a few unanswered asks in my inbox about it. In one past post on the subject, I said the following:

"If she ended up taking Maya’s place in canon, she’d have to think on her feet to avoid having her memory erased. Now THAT would be a recipe for disaster."

Early on in the story, I think Not-Quite-Maya's goals would center around avoiding getting her memory wiped the way Maya's is wiped in canon. She might stay away from Kurama only to get dragged back into his orbit by fate or destiny or whatever you want to call it. Having my mind messed with is a HUGE phobia for me, so knowing Kurama might try and alter my memory after a run-in with Hiei would probably influence my/Not-Quite-Maya's actions until the danger zone has passed.

What would that avoidance look like? I might try to stay away from Kurama, I might try to change Maya's relationship with Kurama, I might try to make friends with more of the YYH cast... who knows? But that would be a huge focus on the early part of the story.

After that point and once canon started up in earnest, Not-Quite-Maya's journey would be VERY different from NQK's. NQK is often preoccupied with the ramifications of increasing Keiko's roll in canon. If she were reborn as Maya, she'd be increasing the changes to canon even more since Maya was never intended to be there in the first place. It makes me question if I would allow myself to get involved at all. At least Keiko is supposed to go to the Dark Tournament; Maya isn't supposed to be featured after Kurama meets Yusuke, so tagging along as Maya would likely wreak even greater havoc than what we got in LC with NQK. There's a case to be made that NQM would stay away entirely as a result, and we'd probably get a Not-Quite whose story didn't intersect much at all with the canon cast's.

That's why I picked Keiko, in the end. Her role is much more involved with the main character's, which makes it easier to involve her in the story and bend canon to accommodate her presence. Accommodating Maya would mean BREAKING canon, not bending it. And since I'm a cautious person, I can't see myself giving readers a very interesting story while inhabiting the role of Maya. Using Maya as the insert character, therefore, didn't contribute to the story I was trying to tell, and Keiko had to be used instead. But it still fun to think about this AU.

As for what I'd call it... the themes of the story would be very different from LC's themes, but I haven't explored what those themes would be yet. Since I tend to choose titles that reflect the themes of their story, it's tough to say what I'd call a NQM story at this juncture.

BUUUUT... I named LC after the translation of Keiko's name (when spelled with slightly different kanji than what was used in canon, but w/e). Maya's name is spelled with a character that can mean either "hemp" or "numb" and a character that can mean "increasingly/further" (or a variation that denotes distance/a measurement growing bigger) or "mend." Other spellings of the name use characters for "truth" and "reality," and also "night" and even "irony." I'd probably make a title that plays on those definitions.

Just spitballing here, but if NQMaya's main hurdle is how distant she is from canon compared to NQK, I think a title that plays on that latter kanji could be cool? Something that plays on the distance between her and canon, and possibly mending that distance, or maybe that distance increasing over time. Throw in "numb" for some color if possible.

Typing all that out made me realize one of the themes of a Not-Quite-Maya story, especially one where she chooses to distance herself from canon, might revolve around the theme of learning to let go. So her story's title could very well be something like, "The Irony of Distance," or "A Distant Truth," or some kind of play on the "so close and yet so far" adage. Hard to say without actually writing the story, but you get the idea.

Thanks for this ask! Was a fun brain teaser.

[ladyxskywalker]

stuffs 💌☕️✨️

tagged by @obiknights 🧃

tagging everybody

do you make your bed?

yes & also when I stay with my boyfriend, I make our bed there. he helps me with the fitted sheet. 🫣 he always says to me, "I like when we do it together" 🐨

favorite number?

2 or 22 💫

what's your job?

I make bags & accessories, gifts, baby blankets, etc. 🧶

If you could go back to school, would you?

I would only go back there to spend time in the beautiful art library on campus 📚

can you parallel park?

I could, but it's annoying 😑

do you think aliens are real?

yes. it's possible !

Can you drive a manual car?

nope. I never tried. Can't do it on gran turismo either ! Hehe 🎮

What's your guilty pleasure?

Watching silly reality TV !

Tattoos?

I don't have any !

Favorite color?

I love blue so much 💙 I recently got this lovely aquamarine bracelet from Alex and Ani & I wear it all the time.

Do you like puzzles?

Yes ! Me & my bro love puzzles. Him especially. We both grew up with them since we were little. & also, me & my boyfriend got these cool nerd puzzles for Christmas, they came in boxes that look like books & you have to try to solve the mystery by putting the puzzle together ! We started one of them a while ago before we moved. He has such a competitive nature that he was trying to put more pieces together faster than me! I told him "this isn't a race!" & he always jokes with me saying "yes it is!!". 🙃

Any phobias?

Heights. & Closed spaces.

Favorite childhood sport?

Wiffle ball ⚾️

Do you talk to yourself?

Sometimes when I'm making food or doing daily tasks

[pjsk-writin]

Hai!! I rlly love your works I was hoping to request for rui and Tsukasa for a sian sunbae reader who has a phobia of men and rui and Tsukasa help them overcome it and during the process they start having feelings for reader! if not then no need to stress and make this anyways pls take care of your self and make sure to eat/drink and sleep properly:

Also can I be 🌮anon if that’s alright if not tho then that’s fine take care!

weheh ty, i hope you do the same ! welcome aboard 🌮 anon, and i hope u like this ! <3

♡ SIAN SUNBAE - Rui Kamishiro and Tsukasa Tenma x Reader

Rui:

Rui had taken notice of you when he saw you flinching away from any classmates that were boys. That was certainly interesting behavior...

He never really knew why you seemed slightly more comfortable around him, and you didn't know either. But, seeing as he was the only guy who didn't make you want to run away...

You ask him for help in overcoming your fear of men, and he agrees pretty easily. I mean, you were already talking to him, so it should be a piece of cake, right?

...Except it isn't, and he had to try his best to not groan at how you always ran away from the guys he was trying to introduce you to. Tsukasa and the others were nice, y'know!

But, he decides that taking baby steps with you would be easier, so he does. He slowly gets you used to being around men, and then he lets you try to talk to them

It was working, slowly but surely! But...He found that he had ended up slowly but surely falling for you as well

He knows how you feel about men, so he never really brings it up. Why should he? He just wanted to help you get over your phobia, he wasn't there for a date-

Still though, whether you also end up falling for him or not, he's still glad that you trusted him enough to ask for his help. People never trusted him, and you made him feel special <3

Tsukasa:

Tsukasa doesn't really notice your fear of men, most would run from people who weren't him anyway!

Despite how...Loud and dramatic he is, you somehow find that it's easier to be around him than any other men. He was certainly kind, so maybe he could help?

When you tell him about your phobia of men, he's kind of shocked that's a thing, but he's not judging you for it! If anything, it gives this future star a chance to show how cool he is!

...He finds it significantly harder to help you than he thought though, especially when you kept running from his friends. Sure, Rui was kind of weird at times, but he was nice enough!-

He settles for taking things slow with you, although he probably tries to act as different men to help prepare you for different scenarios-

The more time he spends trying to help you with your phobia, the more he finds himself...Falling for you. 

With his knowledge of your phobia, he doesn't really try to ask you out. He certainly is incredibly dramatic and caring with you, but that's as far as he goes-

Whether you return his feelings or not, he's just happy that you picked him to help you! He will forever be your star, even if you don't know that <3

[roppongi-division]

Zakari's Thoughts on Second Members

Jiro Yamada

"Jiro is one of my close friends! He and I met a few years back when he was in the orphanage and in middle school. Kind of ironic that we're both in high school together despite being five years apart. When we aren't doing schoolwork together, I like to play games of chance with him. I think he likes seeing me perform dangerous stunts cause he's always afraid I'll chicken out. Joke's on him, though. There's pretty much nothing I won't do if it gets me a rush!"

Jyuto Iruma

"Urgh, my parents have the right idea with this guy. Can you believe he once tried to give me a ticket for performing parkour in my own neighborhood? He claimed I was "disturbing the peace" or some shit, like that. Buddy, pretty much everyone in Roppongi and Minato knows I do this shit in my spare time. In fact, they pretty much love seeing me hop to and fro. So saying I'm "disturbing the peace" is just a sad excuse to want to give someone a fine. Nice try, though."

Gentaro Yumeno

"I'm not as close to Gentaro as I am to Dice, but he's still a pretty cool guy... with a unique fashion sense. I know people get on him for his constant lying, but considering he's a writer, it's no surprise everything he says may or may not be the truth. He and I actually have a little side bet going on. If I can catch him in one of his lies before the month is over, then he has to feature me as a character in one of his next stories! But if I don't, I have to pay for the editing and publishing of his next book. I'm really looking forward to it!"

Hifumi Izanami

"Far be it for me to judge someone's phobias, but I really don't get Hifumi's. When he has his jacket on, he's a flirtatious playboy. But when he takes off, he develops a very bad case of gynophobia? Maybe he should consider seeing a psychiatrist. ...A 'male' one."

Rosho Tsutsujimori

"Rosho-sensei... I've heard about his fear of speaking in front of large crowds. Kind of a shocker considering he used to be a comedian along with Sasara-san. A shame he broke up a good thing, though. And jumping from comedy to teaching? Talk about a leap. Still, the guy does teach fairly well when he manages to work up the nerve. I'm glad I only have online classes with him, though."

Jyushi Aimono

"I know Jyushi mainly because of Kuko, but his band, ArgoξOrchestra, isn't bad either. He sounds a lot different on stage than he does usually, but considering he's a musician, that's kind of a given. I noticed he carries around a stuffed pig with him. He calls it 'Amanda'. Apparently, it was a gift from his grandmother, so he carries it as some sort of security blanket. Not that I'm judging, of course. We all need something to help us face this huge and dangerous world. Me, all I need is my parents and my luck!"

[nothorses]

Asking on anon because I don't feel like getting fucking lambasted by both radical sides of this. But I think they're are some folks that talk about transandrophobia (not you, baeddel-txt, etc) that are starting to pick up on toxic masculinity in the same way TIRFs picked up on TME/TMA shite and the like. (I have it on my blog but only because I'm tired of getting a toss up treatment from shallow transfems and getting reduced to either a cis man or them insinuating I'm not who I say I am, and the like. Frankly as of today I'm muting all of the related tags on both sides because frankly... I need a break).

I agree with y'all just like, be aware of it just like transfems should be aware of our own problems.

I also dislike the whole TIRFs "reclaiming" baeddel as a.) It's literally a ye old slur for intersex people (re: tfems having a problem with fetishizing intersex people, speaking from personal experience here)

b.) it reads like a far inferior version of reclaiming the tslur, which tbh, I would just prefer if they did that.

Also I guess if you ask this and you care so much about who's sending this, I'll reveal myself, just don't make it public because I don't need to be getting harassed by TIRFs for being a weird reject because I just choose to be both a girl and a boy identity wise and clearly the everything not binary fem phobia (even if I meet the criteria of not "CAFAB" to them.) they have is still clearly alive and well considering I took a soft ban 3 months ago for it. (After getting a full ban rolled back bc of staff reviewing it.)

The "baeddel"/TIRF ideology reminds me a lot of my own internalized transmisogyny turning me into a shithead radfem both pre and post coming out, but also everything else going with it.

That's not to say that there isn't some areas where it can be disproportionate. I also don't understand the obsession with violence statistics when a.) It shouldn't be happening period and b.) I don't think either side is accurately reported, really, unless it's entirely relying on self reporting. Also c.) I don't know how much of violence on trans SWers is reported in that, i could see it being even or even mildly trans fem biased, not statistically significant though.

I'll be honest here in that I am not 100% sure I'm understanding you correctly, but it sounds to me like you're making a couple of different points that I'd love to be able to engage with- I think I just need some clarification first so I can make sure I'm not completely misinterpreting what you're trying to get across.

So like, if it's cool, I would love a follow-up ask to clarify a couple of things!

What are folks doing with "toxic masculinity" that you feel is similar to what TIRFs have done with TME/TMA? My understanding would be that TME/TMA were turned into a kind of definitive label that people use to determine who's allowed to speak on certain issues, who's "oppressed enough" to matter, etc., but I don't really see a way that parallels "toxic masculininity" among folks who talk about transandrophobia. Unless you mean that people are distancing themselves from the possibility of being masculine in a toxic way on the basis of their identity? (If that's the case, I think I'm misunderstanding the connection to TME/TMA)

Could you expand on: "The "baeddel"/TIRF ideology reminds me a lot of my own internalized transmisogyny turning me into a shithead radfem"? I think the sentence after that muddied what you meant, for me, and I'm curious what insights you have there!

Also RE: statistics, I really agree that there need to be more studies and research into these issues in order to get any real sense of clarity. IMO the best uses for statistics of violence and discrimination against trans people, specifically stats that tell us who is facing what kind of discrimination, is to better understand the systems causing us harm in order to work towards dismantling them.

Trying to determine "who has it worst" overall is pointless and self-defeating. The goal should be to understand why transmascs tend to face more lifetime sexual violence, while transfems tend to face more childhood sexual violence. Not to decide which issue to give a shit about and which issue to ignore, or which trans people "deserve" to be prioritized over all the others.

I will also say that the study I draw from more than others is the U.S. Transgender Survey, which relies on self-reporting. I recommend checking them out if stats interest you; they're pretty expansive and had a massive sample size. The 2015 results have been published for a while, and 2022 results are coming soon.

[evtoine]

requesting ambrosia for that ask game pretty please 🙏

ofc!! also tagging @invinciblerodent because they also requested her ♥

this got quite long, so I'm putting it under a cut. thank you both for asking about her, i adore her so much and being able to talk about her is always so wonderful 💕

Full Name: Just Ambrosia. Her "real" name is Lysarra, but circumstance had led to that name being dropped. In her original campaign, the name change was a conscious choice on her part on her journey to becoming a cleric of Nusemnee. For bg3 though, it was a result of the memory loss! When she woke on the nautiloid she was clutching a holy symbol with "Ambrosia" etched on the back, so she assumed that was her name.

Pronouns: She/her!

Gender and Sexuality: Ambrosia has never really thought about her gender and feels comfortable in her gender. She also has never tried to put a label on her sexuality, and struggles to put it into words. She also believes she can't and shouldn't get close to anyone, given who she is and what she struggles with. She doesn't want to hurt them. She's also never really assumed she'd be lucky enough to be in a relationship, and life has... really not been kind to her. Knowing what I know about her, and her past, I'd pin it as like... demiromantic-bisexual? She definitely has to know someone before she can open up to them romantically, even though she desperately craves that connection.

Ethnicity/Species: I don't have a lot to say here. She's a human, she didn't grow up in one place, and given she's trying to shed her past, there isn't anything she feels a strong connection to.

Birthplace and Birthdate: Ambrosia was born small village named Triel, north east of Elturel, to parents that did not care about her. Before she was sold, they never celebrated her birthday, and the mercenary group she was part of didn't care about any of that either. She doesn't know her exact age, but she'd estimate she's in her late 20s. (I'm going to say her birthday is in 1464, making her 28 at the time of the events of the game.)

Guilty Pleasures: murder drinking an entire bottle of wine on her own. Ambrosia is quite Large so it doesn't hit her quite as hard as it might others, but she still feels bad when she drinks an entire thing herself sometimes.

Phobias: I haven't really thought about this before, but something in my guy tells me Ambrosia is a bit claustrophobic.

What They Would Be Famous For: Ambrosia is delightfully unremarkable in most ways. She doesn't want to be famous, she doesn't like that kind of attention. If she had to be, though, she would hope it wasn't for the murders. Something that would leave a positive impact on the world.

What They Would Get Arrested For: Beating up people who are mean to kids. She might not consciously remember what happened to her as a child, but there's some scrap of it there in her subconscious, and it really shaped who she is. If she sees a child getting mistreated, especially by their parents, it takes a lot for her to keep her cool. She'll do anything and everything to care for that kid and show them their worth. The Arabella situation was hard for her, because she had half her brain thinking about the tragedy of it all, and the other part of her screaming to step in and ruin Kahga's week.

Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Ambrosia grew up poor and then was sold off to a mercenary group, so she doesn't actually know how to read 💔 But if she's listening to stories, she loves a slow-burn romance. Not that she would ever admit it out loud. But her life has been such a mess, just a simple slice of life story of people falling in love despite the circumstances always gets to her.

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: Fake happy endings, especially if the happy ended was worked for/deserved. To rip it away at the last second is the worst thing you could do to someone, she just hates it. (She does not realize how this relates to her own life.)

Talents and/or Powers: Mechanically, Ambrosia is a War Cleric with proficiency in Intimidation, Persuasion, Medicine, Athletics, and Insight. Despite having no proficiencies in it, Ambrosia is really good with animals, she loves them a lot and they're her lil buds! Original Ambrosia loved dogs, so getting Scratch in this game was just so!! good! she got to live her best life and have a friend!

Why Someone Might Hate Them: Ambrosia is. So stubborn. About even the most trivial things. She has her way of doing things, she has ideas of how things are going to happen, and she doesn't back down. Back in her original campaign this was a huge problem, because she was convinced she could show Strahd the harm he'd done and convince him on the path to be better. That obviously did not go well, but she never gave up.

Why Someone Might Love Them: Ambrosia is so stubborn. She refuses to accept a bad outcome to situations, she works hard to make sure everyone's happy and getting what's best for them. That includes herself, she's very hard on herself about the mistakes she's made and for the things she's done, the people that have died because of her. But it also means she pushes her party members into what's good for them and their well being! And she's always searching for solutions to whatever they might be dealing with, because her friends deserve good things happening to them.

How They Change: This is likely still a work in progress, as I'm only in Act 2 with Ambrosia, but so far she's learned to be a lot kinder with herself when it comes to her urges. She was actually able to open up to her party about what she was dealing with, initially out of necessity because of what happened at camp, but as time went on she realized she could trust them to help her through dark times.

Why You Love Them: Ambrosia was my... second? Third? D&D character ever. She was made for a Curse of Strahd campaign that sadly never finished. It makes me so happy to have her have a place again, and to get a story that has been so satisfying! I've always wanted to see how her story ends, and while a lot of her original plot was dropped (she ran like a redemption paladin, though mechanically a war cleric), she's still very much herself and it's just. So amazing. I'm hoping there's a happy ending option for Urge, because my girl has been through a lot, and I'd like to see her happy.

as a bonus for making it to the end of this post: here is my playlist of all of my ambrosia vibes music! it's all stuff from her old campaign, but most of them still apply. i'm going to make a bg3 version soon ♥

[polyamorouspolymorphia]

Gm/Dm responsibilities

So, this morning, one of my players for a pathfinder 2e game messaged me, and asked if they could bow out.

When I asked them why, and they told me "for college" i was so happy for them and told them "sure! No problem! Go chase that dream, get yours dude/dudette! Totally fine. No reason to fret."

But like, they kept apologizing so profusely. And I was like "dude/dudette, it's totally cool. You don't have to apologize to me. You are literally doing something far more important than some game. You are trying to make a life. Go get it!"

Then i started thinking. And i went and plunged myself into several ttrpg reddits, and...i did not like what I found. Apparenlty, it's very commonplace for players to get basically verbally abused by gms/dms or shamed or many other terrible things for leaving a game.

And I was just like "this is not how it's supposed to be."

So, I wanted to share my thoughts.

0. The game is not about you. It isn't about your ego. It isn't about what you want. It's about having fun, and building friendships. Check your ego at the door.

1.Gm/Dm, it is your RESPONSIBILITY to create a safe and comfortable environment for your players, and yourself. If you cannot provide that, possibly reconsider.

2.Gm/Dm, it is YOUR JOB, to make sure that your players are comfortable and accomadated. Be understanding. Be calm. If a player is uncomfortable with something, either ask them before during or after a session. I've found most of the time, a private conversation before or after a session is best.

3. A player leaving your game is not a personal affront. Most of the time, it's because of something innocuous, or because a schedule change that is massive happened, or, because they just, can't play anymore for whatever reason.

*However, sometimes, it will come down to personal matters, and in those times, i encourage you, Gm/Dm, to act with tact. Be understanding. Work through the issue with them, be supportive, and do your best to prevent escalation. If things get too heated, step away, take a breath, and COMMUNICATE.

** I am fully cognizant of the fact that sometimes bad stuff happens. Feelings get hurt. Tempers flare and sometimes, it goes sour. And sometimes, it goes farther than it should.

4. Make use of yes/no, veils and lines, whatever you want to call them. Basically, before a game starts, before even SESSION 0, gather up people's opinions, fears, phobias, what they are ok with dealing with. There is a plethora of consent forms, content warning sheets, etc. All across the internet. If not those, then write out a simple "what do you want to see in this game, what do you NOT want to see?" And you take that to heart, and use it. Communicate and be negotiable. Also, draw one up for yourself too. And encourage your party to respect your, and their fellow player's do's and don'ts.

5.As the gm/dm it behooves you to always check in with your players before and after each session. Ask how they are doing. How they are feeling, what they want to achieve this session, what could've been done differently, if they have any comments or questions. Take the time to talk to your players as a group, and as individuals.

6. I can't believe I have to say this. But DO NOT use your game as a weird personal fantasy to creep out on your players. Do not harass them. RESPECT THEIR BOUNDARIES. and if you see something like this happening between players, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO PUT A STOP TO IT.

There will be more of these. But i think this is a good place to stop for now. Be safe, be smart.