#mok plays games

[awellboiledicicle]

The Wudwud linguist feels like they're meant to come off as silly but like.

The fact people in the desert villiage speak anything our characters can parse easily is a miracle given the Forbidden Lands haven't been regularly visited by the rest of the continent in "thousands of years". I'm willing to bet the main squad can understand enough to go back and forth expressly because they're all big enough nerds to know whatever base language was around when contact was cut off and everyone is daisy chaining communications till things are hashed out.

The fact the little boy you have with you doesnt seem to struggle as much I'm putting down to "hes had a couple years with the commission at this point".

Now. Add that kinda separation on top of not having the same anatomy to speak with, and probably just throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks, and you get the WudWud linguist.

And they are a linguist. They say so themselves.

But they come off a certain way because they're trying to convey meaning and tone quite a bit outside their usual scope.

Are we meant to put literally any thought into them outside of "quest giver in funny hat with fun speech quirks"? Probably not.

But I know nothing else. So I'm now imagining Alma and the linguist comparing notes and neither being fully comfy with the others vibe on the matter until they share a meal and poorly explain jokes to one another.

[mokartbox]

My Palia character is just me with memory loss and a willingness to fill their house with bugs.

Largely because I'm deeply suspecting the story will pull an Ark: Survival Evolved and the Void is just what a brain experiences while it's being 3d printed by an AI. Which is to say it's just yoinking people from history and plopping them down.

I also anticipate being terribly wrong! I can't wait to find out!

Which is why its so fun for me.

Also because, being who i am as a person, it gives me an excuse to imagine doing the ADHD/Autism stare at people for the sillier fetch quests. And trying to explain the half remembered concept of what a cat is to someone.

[deerdoegone]

LOVE INTEREST TYPOLOGY, TWO.

I JUST THREW OUT THE LOVE OF MY DREAMS looking for inspiration for your love interest? maybe you have a fandom-based significant other you want to fit your dr better, or maybe you want to start from scratch and create your own significant other? feel free to use this for yourself or even friends, but this held romantic intentions and was requested.

these are all best for whatever you would like but i see them more commonly in small towns, romcoms, and high school / college realities. geeky articulation with a shy, low, or demotivated social aspect, quirky and humorous when they finally open up. keeper of messenger bags and rectangular glasses, brown converse and silly socks. are you copper and tellurium? because you're cute! get it? no? tough crowd... these things make me think of the following tropes and character labels. THE NERD. THE ACADEMIC ATHLETE. GUY NEXT DOOR. THE CLOSET GEEK.

FACE CLAIMS. marcus scribner. algee smith. justice smith. xu minghao. jordan gonzalez. aramis knight. anirudh pisharody. j.q. quintel. dane dehaan. sam marin. jordan fisher. elliot fletcher. 2000s matthew lilard. 2000s jared padalecki. matthew gray gubler. chidi anagonye. danny pudi. paul dano. cory michael smith. matt bennett.devon bostick, as always. dev patel. freddy carter. tyler james williams. mark eydelshteyn.ivan mok. frank waln. bayardo de murguia. tokala black elk. dakota beavers. phillip bread. tom holland. josh o'connor. lakeith stanfield. daniel kaluuya. lil rel howery. alfred enoch. literally any man who has played spiderman. asia jackson. halle bailey. lola tung. storm reid. emily alabi. kylee russell. minnie mills. maitreyi ramakrishnan. lee joo-won / jooe. reina triendl. tomoko kawase. jazz jennings. amita suman. won minji. amber midthunder. anya taylor joy. ayo edibiri. ayesha madon. ashley argota. billie lourd. benedetta gargari. belissa escobedo. zion moreno. zhou dongyu. margaret qualley. nicole kidman. katheryn winnick. grace van dien. birgundi baker. bailey bass. lee jinsook. tiffany meia. thaddea graham. rio uchida. sheena lim. ramona young. 2000s america ferrera. park so dam. neelam gil. cierra ramirez. haskiri velazquez. doechii. eva noblezada. isabella lovestory is perfect for the closet geek.

PERSONALITY TRAITS. witty. clever. intelligent. incentive. original. aloof. responsible. patient. ambitious. resourceful. loyal. genuine. honest. open-minded. introverted. determined. esthetic. humorous. optimistic. idealistic. committed. carefree. daring. friendly. quiet. shy. strong individualism. thoughtful. well-mannered. unafraid to state their own ideas and opinions. sweet. good-natured. maybe even confident or brave. cutely awkward. analytic. empathetic. driven to do what's right. traits i think align more with the closet geek instead of all tropes are charming. bold. admirable. lively. romantic. leader. debonair. daring. friendly. fun-loving. hedonistic. suave. optimistic. self-reliant. fierce. sociable. idolized. center of attention.

HOBBIES AND HABITS. collecting, maybe comic books or action figures. coding. programming. cinephilia. hacking. reading. board games. cosplay. some form of art, such as drawing or ceramics. video games. photography. studying/researching. puzzles. lego building. something with science or math. blogging. fashion or robotics design. playing some sort of instrument, like the piano. table tennis. scrapbooking. repairing or building electronics. speedsolving.

LOVE LANGUAGES. words of affirmation. resting their lips against your lip, not necessarily kissing. hand holding under desks. puppy dog eyes when they really want to hang out with you. telling you all about their interests and teaching you the rules to their favorite board games. weird, but reading wiki articles together—trust me. melting every time you kiss them. quality time. the whole smiling and giddy attitude when you get mentioned or they get to see you soon. prank wars, but not the obnoxious ones youtubers do nowadays.

POSSIBLE AESTHETICS. for the closet geek, i think of baddie. 2000s party girl. indie sleaze. bloghouse. britpop. mcbling. succubus chic. agejo. kurogal. shoe diva. in general, i think of nerd/geek. prep. office siren. all forms of academia. supernatural (tv show) is an aesthetic if you believe in it hard enough. balletcore. amekaji. twee. kogal. scene. indie. tweemo. related pinboard.

[gyurilla]

if i say, i love you - the text

pairing: riwoo x afab!readersynopsis: riwoo accidentally retweets one of your old posts, thinking he’s on his spam account. he quickly deletes it, but your friend manages to screenshot it before it’s gone. you play it cool, acting like it was no big deal—pretending you haven’t secretly had a crush on him for years and thinking it was just a harmless mistake. but riwoo knows it wasn’t a mistake

taglist: @pinkiwinkiminki @banez @oowir @viesin @nujeskz @torkorpse @coffee-addict-kitten @8makes1atom @tempewra @jungwonbropls @janjoonty @uncasings @lvlyhiyyih @tkooooop @quinnynation @addictedtoboba @letwiiparkjay @skibidihan @dobbiesvvorld @jvngw0nlvr @conwunder @imma-jiki @koocreampie

wc; 522

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——

you met up with sunoo, hanni, and moka at the cozy cafe near their school, the warm atmosphere a comforting backdrop for their conversation.

“so, what exactly did woonhak tell you?” sunoo asked.

your expression turned annoyed, “basically, woonhak said jungwon and leehan were at a party, and jun got really drunk and spilled to leehan that i liked riwoo, but the funniest thing is leehan literally woke up at seven in the morning just to tell all of them, who even wakes up that early bruh”

hanni burst out laughing, “waking up that early to share a secret is actually crazy.”

moka’s brow furrowed in concern, her voice soft as she asked, “why would jung do that, though? her eyes searched your face, seeking answers.

“i’m not sure what i did” you said, confusion and sadness etched on your face. “we’ve always gotten along, i don't understand what i could've done wrong. i dont know why would he do this..” your voice trailed off.

hanni’s voice was soft, like she was trying to comfort you with her words. “maybe he didn't mean to hurt you, ynie. maybe he was just really drunk and wasn't thinking.”

sunoo’s brow furrowed. “but why would jungwon say that in the first place? he’s always been careful about what he shares.”

moka nodded in agreement, “and who goes to a party on a thursday? maybe he planned it..” she said

hanni raised an eyebrow. "planned it? what do you mean, moka?"

moka’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “jung’s not exactly the party type, we all know he rather stay in and play games with sunghoon and jake. maybe he wanted to get drunk and spill your secret on purpose, we all know leehan likes to party even if he doesn’t get drunk.”

hanni’s eyes widened. “that’s big accusation. do you really think jung would do that, mok?”

your expression turned defensive. “guys, hold up. jun’s been our friend forever. let’s not assume the worst without knowing the full story.” but you couldn’t help but feel a knot of unease in your stomach..could moka be right? did he intentionally betray your trust?

moka’s voice dropped to a whisper. “i know, but still... he's been acting weird, and when he went off on you in the group chat. it’s all just suspicious”

“guys, plea..” you started, but your words were cut off by the sudden ding of your phone.

you checked the screen, your eyes widening in shock. “oh my god, riwoo just texted me, MY HUZZ!!”

sunoo let out a loud, high-pitched scream, making everyone jump. hanni burst out laughing. “what the hell was that sun??” she looked at him confused but still laughing

sunoo laughed, “i’m sorry, but this is yn’s moment”

you panicked, your words tumbling out in a rush. “wait, what if he’s texting me because i was so weird around him..WHAT IF HE TELLS ME TO LEAVE HIM ALONE AND THAT IM A STUPID WEIRDO CREEP?!”

moka laughed “i don’t think he would start off with a ‘hi yn’, if that was true.”

“quit worrying so much” hanni chimed in

“i should apologize just incase.”

——

——

you looked up at your friends, eyes wide with shock. “guys... the huzz just asked me out... and he said he's liked me for years too..”

moka eye’s widened, “WHAT TIME IS THE DATE?!”

you jumped up quickly. “TOMORROW! omg. i need to go home NOW! i need to sleep early, i need to do everything!" you rushed out, bumping into a table in your haste.

sunoo’s concerned voice trailed after you, “is she gonna okay...?”

hanni let out a laugh, “oh definitely not”

——

a/n: my schedule should be back to normal after this! also is it weird to call riwoo by his real name? i just cant bring myself to do it, can u guys?? ;-;

[ikjun]

i am bemoaning the length of the dongjae spin-off because i think it is very well done. the case is constructed in a way that it’s not boring, you just have to pay attention to everything said and shown because it is all relevant to solving it, and to the overall plot, duh, in a manner that’s very stranger-esque. dongjae being able to make a breakthrough due to a minor interaction in one of the first episodes is so the si-mok playbook that i couldn’t not love it and similarities between his team-up with police officer hyun-woo is also a nice callback. but the show is still distinctly dong-jae in tone and feel, he’s sometimes the butt of the joke but he also gets to succeed and win - we actually see him be good and sufficient at his work, which would explain why someone like him got to stay in his line of work for twenty years.

in that vein it is also great to see them put so many callbacks to his time as a character (third lead !!) in stranger into this show, which rewards longtime fans a lot. his relationship to won-cheol, showing how much medication he’s got prescribed after the events he went through, using his malpractice case from s1 as a hung-up and roadblock for him in the prosecution, and how scared he was when the internal investigator in ep7 said he’d want to interview si-mok as a witness and how dong-jae was vehemently against it right away. it makes sense to the audience that knows him while keeping first-time watchers curious what the deal with that and dong-jae is exactly.

then there is nam wan-seong as a villain. he only works as one because dong-jae is the main character. someone like si-mok wouldn’t give a man like ceo nam or his family the time of day, any temper tantrum would fly right over his head or go past him while he’d solve the case and prosecute him. but nam wan-seong can push every one of dong-jae’s buttons and so does the involvement of his son at the beginning of the case. dong-jae has two achilles heels: his opportunism and his investment in cases involving teenagers and kids. he loathes child-bullying and teenage delinquents, he doesn’t want to see teenagers (teenage boys specifically) go down this path because, for whatever reason, he is affected by that as a father himself. so he can’t let sleeping dogs lie in that regard and nam gyeo-re is the perfect segue way for him to start an investigation and that leads to him clashing more with ceo nam. ceo nam, who bribed dong-jae when it was still en vogue for dong-jae to indulge in that, and who knows how to play someone who is pliable. he’s the type of man dong-jae has to rise against because he is everything dong-jae was and somewhat is somewhere still inside of him, so to win against him also signals a character progression for dong-jae, which would also be signified in such a big case possibly getting him back to seoul.

it’s fun, even bordering on downright hilarious (the inner monologues, the soundtrack!, the physical comedy of dong-jae being dong-jae), it’s engaging and thrilling, it’s a cat and mouse game, a procedural, and more than anything it feels like a victory lap dedicated to the fans of a franchise who gave their time and energy to this character over and over again, honouring the original writing of the show as well as lee joon-hyuk’s best and most signature role. that’s our dong-jae indeed, and our show (and i wish it got the sixteen episode order to carry it home.)

[theageofsims]

I can't remember the last time I went into my legacy save and I just feel like I gotta smoke a cigarette and drink heavy liquor before I go back in there. 😂😂😂

And I have never tried either in my entire life, but hey -- I just started drinking coffee last year so anything is possible! 😂

I just know they are in my game running a goddamned mok. Amok! Amok! Amok! 😂 Sorry -- big fan of the original Hocus Pocus, since its release.

I know I gotta pull out my note files, maps, family trees, pensions and other allocated savings, and resources before I even click play because there's just a lot of them scattered around the Sims globe that I am almost sure I have either forgotten about or they're on the brink of something major happening in their lives that I won't be aware of until I go to check on them and then BAM -- more bullshit to deal with! 😂🤦🏽‍♀️

🚬🚬🚬

🍺🍺🍺

So... Anyway...

LETTUCE pray... 😂

[chameleonspell]

HTDC commentary - 35: steam

[Looking back at HTDC after ten years: comments on lore, character notes, influences, art, whatever. May contain spoilers for later chapters.]

chapter text: 35: steam

In which Julan tries to be helpful, and Iriel reacts badly.

“He must have very limited horizons for a thief, this Caryarel.” muttered Julan. “Was he just starting out? Maybe he’ll go wild and take a spoon, next. Anyway, don’t you think he’d have sold the stupid bowl on, by now?” “That’s what we’re here to find out.” “Yeah, well.” Julan surveyed the mouldering cluster of huts that comprised the bedraggled little fishing village. “If I were a desperate criminal, on the run with my precious hoard of… pottery… I wouldn’t hide out in Gnaar Mok. Because then I would be in Gnaar Mok. With my bowl, yes, but still. In Gnaar Mok. Am I missing something, here?”

I should apologise for the fact that shortly after I condemned using content from the mod, half this chapter is just reworkings of Julan's comments on the Caryarel quest, because I still think they're funny. But see, I worked really hard on making Julan's comments on the Imperial Cult questline funny, because otherwise he would do nothing but complain all the time, which would be boring. So instead, I had him veer between exasperated flights of fancy, and full-on troll-mode. I still haven't written him commentary on Legion quests, though, because I don't want to make the Imperial Legion funny, and I don't like playing as the sort of character who'd go to Morrowind, and join the bloody Legion. Maybe I'll think of a way to approach it, some day, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

Also, "mouldering cluster of huts" is quite nice, excellent unpleasant mouthfeel.

“Why didn’t he sell the thing? He took the risk of stealing it, just to carry it off to Gnaar Mok and keep it in his shack? Was he obsessed with it? Maybe we’re only getting a tiny glimpse of something, here. The tragic love story of a man and his bowl, cruelly parted by–”

It's very cheap humour, taking pot-shots at nonsensical video-game quests, and I know that. I'm not proud of it, but it IS fun to write.

I realised just now, checking the details of this quest, that I fucked up! Iriel isn't supposed to know that Caryarel is in Gnaar Mok at all, because Kaye never told him that. I should have included some incredibly awkward scene where he finds that out from another Altmer ex-pat. PLOT HOLE, this is why you should never re-read your own work.

“I think you’re reading a little too much into this.” “That’s because you’ve never known the depths of boredom you can sink to, alone in the Grazelands. Sometimes reading too much into things was all that kept me going.” He handed the bowl back to Iriel. “To be honest, I’ve never been this far from home before. Not like you - you’ve lived in three different countries, now! So, what do you think of Morrowind? Resdayn, I mean. Morrowind is what the n'wah called it. I try to call it Resdayn, but I always forget, since everyone calls it Morrowind now. Yet another reason to hate the Empire! Taking our names, even! But anyway… do you like it here?”

You can see Julan's in his chipper, talkative, very-slightly-manic mode, jumping from topic to topic. Someone read him as having ADHD once, and while people can read whatever they'd like into him, I'm not sure I agree that's how his brain is working. At times like these, I can see where the impression might come from, but the root causes are different, under the hood. Here, he's mostly just trying hard to be sociable and funny, to engage with Iriel - notice that he's apparently coming off his Ashlander Children rant-modes, which tend to involve some degree of alcohol.

Iriel gave him a sidelong glance. “You’d have thrown the Imperial criminal garbage a welcoming party, would you? I thought you said Ashlanders hated foreigners.

The majority of Iriel's interactions with Dunmer so far have been Camonna Tong, who hate foreigners loudly and violently. He has no reason to think Ashlanders are going to be any better, and part of him is still waiting for the other shoe to drop with Julan, for the friendly veneer to wear off in favour of racial slurs.

“I… uh… well… that would certainly be the… traditional view on the matter. But I told you, I don’t hate outlanders, as long as they’re not invading us and forcing their culture on us. You shouldn’t expect all Ashlanders to have the same opinion on everything, you know! We do have minds of our own!”

Obviously Julan gets uncomfortable and deflective, if pushed to admit that he disagrees with standard Ashlander opinion. Notice how he immediately moves to position himself as part of an "us" who is being invaded and culturally repressed by outlanders. Who is this "us", exactly? If it's Dunmer as a whole, then House Dunmer are the biggest perpetrators of invasion and cultural repression against Ashlanders, far more so than the Empire. If it's Ashlanders, then he's eliding his own outcast status, again. I don't think Julan needs to be 100% ideologically coherent and logically watertight at all times for his concerns to be real and his anger to be legitimate, but sometimes it seems like he's arguing with himself, more than anyone else.

“So you’d like more foreigners in Morrowind, would you?”

Iriel deliberately poking the sore spot, because if his new pal is going to turn out to be a xenophobic asshole, he'd like to know now, before he invests any more time.

Ire sees all Dunmeri hatred of foreigners as racism, though it's actually more complicated than that. You do have to take the power dynamic into account - Morrowind is a colonised land, and for Vvardenfell in particular, the Imperial incursion was only 13 years ago, the wounds still very fresh. It's not racist to be mad about foreigners invading you and kicking you off your land to build military bases.

It's just that... with most Dunmer, you get the impression that they'd be racist to everyone anyway, with or without a "legitimate" reason like invasion. Look at how they treat the foreigners they have power over, especially their constant, horrendous racism against the Khajiit and Argonians whom they kidnap and enslave. They're rude and abrasive to everyone else, including Dunmer not born in Morrowind, and I'm not even touching the fact that their foreigner-slur sounds upsettingly close to the n-word.

As an Altmer, Iriel's in a strange position, technically being on the same level as the Dunmer, a member of an Imperial colonised land. But Altmer, even defeated by the Empire, retain a certain status via their historical dominance, ongoing cultural influence and self-mythology as descendants of the Aldmer. While it doesn't give him much real power in a place like Vvardenfell, and feels to him as if it has the opposite effect when Camonna Tong target him, Iriel certainly benefits from Altmeri privilege. People - even the Tong! - treat him far better than they would a Khajiit or an Argonian in the same position.

“I didn’t say that, but… I mean…” Julan was frowning, considering the question far more seriously than Ire had intended him to. “I’d like to learn more about other places. I read some stuff in a book, once, but then Mother found it, and threw it on the fire.”

Along with the opening of Vvardenfell to Imperial mining and colonisation in 3E 414 came a huge influx of non-Dunmer, turning a near-racially-homogenous place into somewhere where, just over a decade later, only 1 in 2 people were Dunmeri. Julan was nine years old in 3E 414 and, out in the wastes, only knew something had changed when the missionaries and Legionaries started to appear. Those foreigners were unambiguously bad, to be sure, but later, other foreigners travelled through the area, and they were just... people. Strange-looking people, with weird accents and clothes. People he got yelled at for talking to, but Mother also thought books about foreign countries were dangerous, and he'd already figured out she was full of shit on that point. Maybe Julan would like more foreigners in Morrowind, maybe that would be interesting? He's experimenting with the idea, knowing it's "wrong" according to his sources of received wisdom, but struggling to justify to himself why that would be the case.

Sometimes I fantasise about travelling, and seeing all the other amazing lands out there. Of course, it’ll never happen. I have duties, responsibilities. I can’t just… walk away. Find a boat, and… sail off into the horizon…” He stared dreamily out across the murky water.

This line hurts so much worse if you're re-reading the fic. But... this is why Julan argues with Iriel when Ire claims Julan would never leave Vvardenfell with him. Julan wants to leave Vvardenfell, has always wanted to leave Vvardenfell! There's just always been a million reasons lining up in front of him, telling him that everything will fall apart, if he does. But he's not, y'know, happy about that.

Ire followed his gaze to the lumpen mass of rusted towers visible amongst the trees.

This is the screenshot in my tumblr header image: the Dwemer ruin of Aleft, as seen from the Gnaar Mok docks.

“How will we know till we look? Anyway, I bet you’re smarter than anyone else who’s been in there. You might find stuff they missed!”

He's really trying, huh? Full puppy-dog mode, full loyal supportive friend who believes in you, and definitely isn't just trying to talk you up, because he saw you collapsed in a mess of heartbreak and skooma-drool the other night!

Ire snorted, but allowed himself to be flattered without further protest.

It was almost starting to work, too. But now, a few things are going to happen to ruin his mood.

“Move!!” Julan hurled himself sideways into Iriel, who found himself thrown into the wall, but out of range of the Steam Centurion’s giant spherical fist, which came crashing down onto Julan’s shoulder. Fortunately, he was ready for it, and moved with the blow, twisting low, so that most of the force glanced off his pauldron. The construct tilted forwards, centre of gravity skewed. “Now!!” Julan yelled, driving his chitin blade at the joint of its leg.

Look, Ma! I'm writing a fight scene! It's not the best fight scene ever, these sentences definitely need some tightening up, but at least I'm not evading it completely!

Let the record additionally show that the first time Iriel got up close and personal with a Steam Centurion, he was fighting for his life, and very specifically trying NOT to get fisted by it.

Julan had got to [...] disable a few Centurion Spiders with well-placed kicks.

They're just like metal mudcrabs! Shani informs me that only outlanders and idiots get killed by mudcrabs. Every Dunmeri child is taught early on how to kick them sharply onto their backs, so they can't do anything to you.

He’s not going to give up, is he? Is it because of those stupid clannfears, he thinks he has to prove himself, over and over? Auri-El…

Orrrrr, maybe he's just doing his job, and you're feeling guilty for taking him somewhere you knew could be dangerous, with no real plan for if things went south?

Iriel mostly uses non-fantasy swears, but at some point I realised "Auri-El" sounded hilariously like "bloody hell", so I had to let him have that one.

If he had been alone, Ire would have been long gone, under cover of invisibility.

Iriel can't use his regular escape mechanisms without leaving Julan to die. Invisibility is passive and individualistic, it enacts no change on the world, and can't do anything to help others, only yourself. It's all about avoiding risk, but if Iriel wants to keep Julan alive, he's going to have to do something risky, instead.

I'm sure he rationalises the bravery of this away, later. He just didn't want to get saddled with the guilt of Julan's death! But a coward would have abandoned Julan, and blamed the Ashlander for his own suicidal recklessness. In the heat of the moment, Ire's first instinct was to preserve life.

he dashed forwards and threw his arms round Julan, pulling him into the sphere of pink light he was focusing.

Watch out Julan, it's the gay agenda!

(The gay agenda: not die)

He had expected Almsivi Intervention to return them to Ald'ruhn, but sunlight and running water instead of ash storms and wind ruled that out. Then he recognised the Temple courtyard. He was in Balmora again. Shit. We were too far south.

Again with the teleportation drama; it's so easy to do, though! Almsivi Intervention isn't based on the closest beacon, it's by demarcated zone, and you can easily assume you'll go to one beacon, when in fact, you're across the border and into the zone of another beacon that's even further away.

although part of his brain was wistfully considering how long it’d been since he was last wrapped around someone like this, Julan was stirring, and this wasn’t really the time or the place. Or the person, he told himself.

[...]

Julan opened his eyes and blinked a few times. He pushed himself up to sitting, his face a picture of confusion. Then he saw Ire, and, comprehension dawning, grinned sheepishly. Blood trickled down over his lip. Iriel had an overpowering desire to hit him.

Iriel is being forcefully reminded that other people are complicated. Horribly complicated, and dangerous in more ways than one. Iriel doesn't want to have some idiot's death on his conscience, and he definitely doesn't want to start feeling attracted to Julan, because that's an even worse threat to his soap-bubble mental stability.

(Hitting Julan would not have helped. Hitting Julan would have done the opposite of helped. It might have precipitated the guy's bisexual crisis twenty-three chapters earlier, but it wouldn't have helped.)

He settled for shouting, instead.

“You idiot! You utter, fuckwitted, shit-for-brains… warrior!! What is wrong with you, do you have some kind of death wish? I can’t handle this, I can’t… don’t you dare ask me to keep…” He broke off, frustrated at his inability to express himself and the unshed tears burning behind his eyes.

And here's the rest of the steam, escaping the valve. Ire loses his shit totally disproportionately, but the pressure's been building up ever since he took Julan on.

Quick note: at no point in the fight did Julan actually refuse to fall back, he never even got a chance to try. The thing that Iriel is claiming to be angry about, is not a thing that happened, or the thing he's actually angry about.

I can’t deal with this. When he comes back, I’ll tell him he has to leave. It’s not just the fighting, it’s everything. I’m too used to being on my own. This is too much pressure. We’re too different. I feel like he’s judging me all the time, my skooma, my sexuality, my past, my decisions… I don’t need this.

It's The Being Perceived.

Being perceived when you hate yourself feels like being judged and criticised, even when they're not actually doing that, even when they're being nice and trying to help.

It wasn’t until he was halfway down the glass, and her eyeballs began to slide around her face, then he realised something wasn’t right. His head felt heavy. He tried to stand, and everything lurched blurrily sideways. Sottilde calling, “I’m really sorry, Ire!” was the last thing he heard.

People think I had Iriel get roofied a lot, but actually, this is the only time it happens! All the other times, people only TRY to roofie him, but he doesn't fall for it! Iriel is an alchemist, so he knows how this stuff works, and forever after, is paying careful attention to weird undertones in his drinks.

What's Sottilde even doing to him, anyway? It must be Drain Fatigue, because while Damage Fatigue is a possible effect, there are no ingredients that work to make a valid potion for it, and anyway, it's permanent, and they're only trying to knock him out, not give him chronic fatigue syndrome.

Ire's drinking shein, which is comberry wine, and comberries already have a Drain Fatigue property, so maybe Sottilde would only need to add one extra ingredient? There are several possible options: Bonemeal (please no, Ire's suffered enough, plus I don't think it would dissolve), Guar or Kagouti Hide (again, challenging to hide in a drink), various Bitter Coast mushrooms (maybe, I guess?), but the likeliest option for Tilde to have on hand would be marshmerrow. Would a little marshmerrow juice squeezed into comberry wine work to cause instant knock-out?

Honest answer: no. You need alchemical equipment and processes to draw out and magnify the qualities of ingredients enough to have the effect of potions. Tilde's no alchemist, so probably Habasi gave her a pre-made potion to put in Ire's wine. Much as I enjoy the idea of every meal in Morrowind having the equivalent of complicated drug interactions to beware of, eg: it's safe to put hackle-lo on a kwama egg, but only if the egg is small. If the egg is big, you will be instantly paralysed.

Conveniently for Morrowind drink-spikers, shein also drains Intelligence, which makes it very funny that Ire likes it, or at least, prefers it over the other noxious brews available in Morrowind taverns. Skooma does the same thing. Go on, babe, nuke your one semi-decent stat! It's like the opposite of a Magical Girl Transformation: a Scientific Boy Regression.

Anyway. Like when I had him get hit onna head, this feels a bit like the author intervening to do a "mean thing" to Iriel. Usually, you want the unpleasant things that happen to a character to be powered solely by the inexorable machinery of their own flaws and mistakes catching up with them, but I had to do something drastic, here. Iriel was recoiling hard from having a companion, from that constant scrutiny, someone always looking over his shoulder. The character, left to his own devices, wanted to dump Julan and run away to lie alone in a swamp for a week, just to get over the amount of social interaction he'd been forced to endure. I don't want him doing that just yet, so he's getting kidnapped.

That, or cruel tarhiel picks random ways to have Iriel black out, when they can't think how to end a chapter; you decide.

next: 36: clean previous: 34: medicine

[warduke]

Two years ago I drew a picture of a weird dude with a nasty burlap cloak and a bat amulet, levitating.

I named this character Uldere Thomauck [Ool-deer Th-O-mok].

He was to be a powerful and ambitious sorcerer. He comes from a region with low magic, so he has some inferiority to get over when he meets other wizards.

He does all the things an evil wizard npc should: he kills other wizards for their spells, builds towers, experiments with golems, demons, and undead to find the best army, tries to marry a sphinx or medusa, and eventually build a dungeon of his own.

He has sworn 27 secret oaths to make sure he carries out these goals.

I wanted to play him for a long time in an indulgent solo game I'd get one of my friends to dm for me.

Instead, I started playing him in a campaign my dad is running over zoom. I've been in this group since I was in like 8th grade.

This latest campaign is using Shadowdark, which is a really good osr game, and I would definitely steal some stuff from it when playing DCC or something.

It's also a shared world with like 10 players, and we make parties ad hoc in the West Marches style.

I rolled a high int character so decided to make them Uldere Thomauck.

Some problems so far: he will only ever have as many hit points as his level, because he's got a 1d4 hit die and -3 Con.

Also.... most of these other characters are lawful, and a LOT of them are wizards.

Technically based off of his oath, ALL WZRDS MUST DIE and any who speak a word to Uldere are marked for death. Soooooo based off my original idea, Uldere should be planning the murders of these wizards.

Buttttttt I'm gonna rule for now that he's too weak to carry them out so he's waiting, hoping other disasters will take care of it so he doesn't have to. And can steal their spellbooks.

It is really funny though that he has accidentally been swept up into a coven of goodly wizards.

His first few adventures have been good so far: pay for a bunch of hirelings, send them ahead of him with a ten foot pole, shoot magic missles from the back and run at the first sign of real danger.

He now has a green magic cloak that can only be worn by Chaotic wizards, burning the skin of others 😈

[wickedwitzh]

tag 9 people to get to know better

tagged by @firesofthestars (thanks, it’s been too long since I played a tag game!)

1. 3 ships: currently obsessed with si-mok/yeo-jin, and feeling like a clown about it because I’m obsessed with them even in a platonic way 🤡, aziraphale/crowley and that one ship from a polish series of retro crime novels 😂😂😂🙈

2. first ever ship: probablyyyyy Sam/jack from stargate: sg1 🙈 and then something from Twilight 😂😂

3. last song: jesień-tańcuj

4. last movie: twilight:new moon lmaooo the autumn depression is kicking in

5. currently reading: Herrarna satte oss hit: om tvångsförflyttningarna i Sverige by Elin Anna Labba (about mass deportation of indigenous peoples in Sweden in 1900s)

6. currently watching: burn the house down (a Japanese series on Netflix)

7. currently consuming: dinner, soon (yoghurt and granola probably)

8. currently craving: a hug and like 15 hours of sleep I think. Mostly can’t wait for my period to start 😂

9. tagging @karadenizin @ladjarica @andordean @carmenonmonday

(of course if you don’t want to feel free to ignore ;))

[awellboiledicicle]

Tried making my doomed dwarf fort with mods so I can just tell them to smelt steel but that didnt work so I'm making it as miserable as vanilla can be.

World Gen made humans invent capitalism. Dwarven society appears dominated by necromancers. The elves invented communism. The goblins are writing about the moon while humans are writing about the cons of migration.

There was a solid 20 year span where the books were all either about necromancy or if sex was real. Like just legendary books asking if sex was actually a magic ritual to make more people or if babies happened unrelated to sex. Then twenty more years later another span of "ok sex deffo makes kids but what if we could do magic for that"

Meanwhile the demons are in a century long war with a whole gang of rocs.

Dragons keep killing Kobolds after they do something noteworthy.

One of the first recorded gods to bestow necromancy had a name that ended in Of Tweeting and he is a human God of conflict.

There is a dwarven goddess of chaos and death named The Bad.

The world might just politically kill my dwarves. The zombies might be preferable

[autumnbrambleagain]

ironically towns is what keeps me from coming back to morrowind

bcom covers so much and it's great, and all the updated interiors are incredible

but there are some town mods i really do prefer, like the old gnaar mok one that gives it several layers, and the sadrith mora upper-city district

and the insane vivec mod that makes each canton like a 5 layer arcology that you have to build your own compatibility patches for

the obvious answer is to do what i always do and mod the mods i'm playing with but bcom is so HUGE to actually sit down and learn it and modify it because honestly i don't want vanilla+ i want vanilla++++ after so many years of morrowind i want this place to look fucked up and extreme i want sadrith MORE yknow i want gnaar mok to be big i want vivec to be daunting as fuck

nothing sets off my dumb fucking hyperfixation like this fucking game i hate it

[nityarawal]

Close it down! #IKR xo @elonenthusiast @elonmuskfanslounge @teslamotorsblog @cybertruck @aclu

#Independence #USA #Happy4th

Reported to atty board!!!!

Vista PDs were assigned to me because family court Judge Kelly Mok, commissioner Ratekin & Attys Lori Clark Viviano didn't understand real estate or divorce dissolution. They used a violent marine investigator to hide their abuse kidnapping children, slumming me out of homes. It's Probate fraud. Please reflect all my orders cancelled as I was promised by courtroom 14 before my Landlord retired civil atty Robert Mann & Retired PD Kathy Cannon opened another violent investigation for their kinks! I quit my job and moved! I just need my assets and kids now. The courts keep playing games. 12th floor made mistakes on case last week and PDs are spinning it! Please close all Superior Courts! Over 50 pds capitalized whilst I suffered! I need my house re-instated and 50/50. I proved mental Competency ten times over and won't survive another rape warrant! Please cancel everything and have my kids call me. You have a mold problem in courts, they're functionally obsolete structurally and legally; Not sustainable nor desirable on any level. These buildings are condemned by health department. Show them basements of all Socal courts and holocaust centers. Let's review murder & rape numbers from family courts because bros won't/don't share or cooperate. Transfer all to moms for peace, or at very least honor 50/50. I'm disabled from PTSD of court and they won't honor our forensic psychology reports from Dr. Adam Cash and take me off their roster with my cancelled orders for daughters principal! Please close 1202, 1203, 1601, 16, 1, 14 and all others on Probate fraud. These criminal courts to defend our most violent court Marines aren't serving family life on any level! Close Judge Mathew Brower's courts on covid fraud doing restraining orders against business moms with his boys club. Every Probate needs to be reevaluated immediately. This was a gross real estate con of maximum proportions and Britney Spears needs all cancelled too!

Blessings,

Nitya Huntley Rawal

Encinitasbeachhome.com

[gracelaramusings]

Day 6: Flipping Sticky Rice in Luang Prabang

We awakened to the beautiful view of the Namkhan River in our lovely cabin, having moved from the tent the night prior. My concern that I would miss the tent abated when I saw what a wonderful room it was. 

I rushed to breakfast, since my cooking course started at 10am. I must take a cooking course in every country I visit, where I hope I'll learn at least a new skill or two. I actually checked out a few other places first-- I really wanted to do a tour of the morning market as part of the course, and the morning course in town offered that. But it was full and the other recommended option didn't have anyone else signed up so it wasn't worth their while to do what would have then been a private course for me... So, at my hotel they offered a course- the only difference, instead of the morning  market, I would pick all the vegetables myself from their organic garden.  Perfect!

I met the chef Mok and translator Mik. We walked around the grounds, and they introduced me to flowers, roots and trees I'd never seen before.  The highlight: a hut where they grew mushrooms. How cool!

We picked a whole variety of veggies, including ginger, eggplant, mushrooms, lettuce, chives... you name it, and we made our way to the kitchen. 

There I began my Laotian cooking journey! I steamed (and flipped!) sticky rice, boiled then mashed eggplant for oorlong stew, chopped papaya for salad, finely sliced tilapia for larb, and cut mango so they'd perfectly spread on the dish to complement the coconut-milk sweet sticky rice. Every traditional dish I could have hoped for, every ingredient I love.  

After I finished cooking, the unanticipated beauty of doing the course at the hotel became clear: they brought the meal to our cabin overlooking the river! Have I been saying perfect too much?

After munching on my specialties, we walked around the grounds which were peppered with cool games. Yuval gave a go at archery (last time I tried I bruised my entire left arm). There was croquet (we didn't play but it brought back memories of my childhood games), swings, a yoga platform, a giant chess set (Yuval still won't play with me so he can continue to boast that the last time we played, he won regrettably, years ago...) and sack tosses... which Yuval did actually and fairly beat me at.

Having had our fill of games, we took a walk along the jungle paths that surrounded the area. We then headed back into town.

First objective: check out a few possible hotels for our final night in Luang Prabang. It's best to visit the place instead of reserving on an app, since in Laos the price is always cheaper in person. We found an adorable, highly-rated hotel on the river... for just $18! And with a riverfront balcony! We also arranged a tuktuk driver for the next day, who would take us to the local waterfall and other nearby sights. 

We wanted to spend the last night in town since I wanted to experience the morning alms with monks, which required me to be up and out at 5:30am. We then planned to catch a minivan from town right afterwards to our next destination, Nong Khiew.

For dinner, we decided on Indian food so we found a great place and had a fantastic meal. We topped it off with a banana-nutella roti, freshly made in the store front, right before us. What talent! 

We finished the night with a rerun of the night market. I got a cute sweatshirt to complement the not-enough-warm clothes I brought (because I thought it would be warmer in Laos!) 

We caught our ride back to the lodge, debated whether to make a fire in the pit overlooking the river, but decided sleep seemed the best option. Waterfalls tomorrow!

[volleytimes-com]

Mevza League: all results of Tournament 1

🏆| Mevza League: all results of Tournament 1 Tuesday, October 29, 2024 • HAOK Mladost Zagreb (CRO) TJ Spartak Myjava (SVK) 3-0 (25:13, 25:23, 26:24) • ACH Volley Ljubljana (SLO) - SK Zadruga Aich/Dob (AUT) 3-0 (25:17, 25:21, 25:22) Wednesday, October 30, 2024 • TJ Spartak Myjava (SVK) - OK i-Vent Maribor 2-3 (25:23, 25:22, 17:25, 20:25, 15:17) • SK Zadruga Aich/Dob (AUT) - MOK Mursa Osijek (CRO) 3-1 (22:25, 25:15, 25:23, 25:11) Thursday, October 31, 2024 • HAOK Mladost Zagreb (CRO) - OK i-Vent Maribor 1-3 (26:28, 25:21, 22:25, 18:25) • ACH Volley Ljubljana (SLO) - MOK Mursa Osijek (CRO) 3-0 (25:17, 25:19, 25:22 Read more here 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

2024/25 Mevza League started today between Tuesday and Thursday, with 6 games played. To the top Slovenia’s powerhouse ACH Volley Ljubljana, who celebrated two straight sets win in as many games played. The first one at home against Austria’s SK Zadruga Aich/Dob, 3-0 (25:17, 25:21, 25:22), with 21 points including 7 of his teams’ 10 aces from top scorer Amir Golzadeh while, on Thursday, they…

[venting-dont-like-it-dont-follow]

Ive been thinkijg about my family. A dangerous rabbit hole i admit. The more i think. Ths more i realise. I never really had a life huh? Pelle and my mok controllwd my every move. Ajd i nsver talked ablut it. Simce j nelieved it was truw. My mom knew best rigjt? And Pelle was just looking out for me. So who cares that its nkt what i want. But the expectations broke when i met him. Who lookwd at me and asked: what do you want? He never demanded me to fo anuthijt. Asked me what game i wanted to play. What id like to eat. How we would spent my tine. Brought me more ij touch with himself. The late nigh talks about well. Everyrjing. Hik noticing from the get go how i sacrificed myself. I brojw free, bit by bit. Staryestalkijg back. Started licking fights. Stopped going tk school. Cause school was what my mom wanted. Cut and shaved and dyed my hair. Bevause it was sverything mg mom didkt want. Cut up my own skin bevause it was a wau of recmaiking it. Markwd it witj tattoos. Changed ky name to something that wadnt what she licked. Aa fkr Pelle, went more to other people. Staryed arguijg knstead kf comlying. And finally broke contact. And he will listen tonme. Insyead kd dismissint me.

With wveryact i creats myaelf. 20 people in my brain but we make it work. I am free. I stopped being what people exoected. And ataryed being what i want. I gkt a job! Ik saving up for another tattoo! (Biggest kne yet). Going tl save up for a freaking piercing! I am me. No one is goikf to take that. Not anymore

[howstheday]

China's Restrictions on Online Games: Unraveling Potential Consequences and the Specter of Increased Surveillance

China's new limitations on its entertainment sector, notably the prohibition on those under the age of 18 from playing online games on weekdays, raises critical issues about the societal impact and the possibility for increased monitoring. This article goes into the effects of these limitations, looking at how they affect the younger population, the gaming business, and the larger environment of digital monitoring in China (Soo 2023).

One of impact on the younger generation group will be educational focus, as the ban on weekday gaming for people under the age of 18 is consistent with China's emphasis on education. However, students may face an additional hardship if they engage in non-educational internet activity within the restricted hours. This might accidentally move the attention away from gaming and toward other types of digital connection (Soo 2023). Secondly, would be the escapism and mental health, while the goal is to address game addiction problems, this limitation may not necessarily increase mental health outcomes. Instead, it may drive young people to seek different forms of escape, perhaps increasing mental health issues. To address mental health difficulties, a broader approach is required, including education and support services (Yang & Goh 2023).

Secondly, it will impact on the gaming industry, through economic implications, because China is a significant market in the worldwide gaming business. Gaming hours restrictions may result in lower income for game producers, particularly those catering to a younger demographic. According to China's Gaming Industry Report, overall sales in the first half of 2021 exceeded 150 billion yuan (US$32 billion). Some researchers believe that banning gaming for under-18s will have serious consequences for the gaming business since it will prevent habits from forming. Because gaming habits are typically formed in youth, this might have an influence on the future earnings of China's digital behemoths (Brooke 2021). The financial effects may include employment losses and diminished industry innovation, affecting both domestic and foreign gaming enterprises (Chen 2022). Moving on, it will impact the innovation and adaption, in conjunction with legislative changes, gaming firms can adjust by developing more diversified and educational game content. Stringent rules, on the other hand, may inhibit creative freedom and limit the industry's potential to develop (Ye 2023). The long-term impact could involve a change in the global gaming environment, with China potentially losing its position as an innovator for game innovation. Last but not least, if this keep implementing, gaming firms stocks will affect gradually (Ye 2023).

Thirdly, they will be potential for increased surveillance through the use of digital monitoring, the setting of online activity limits, such as gaming, opens the door to enhanced digital surveillance. Authorities may use advanced surveillance tools to follow and monitor people's internet activities, raising worries about privacy violations (Brooke 2021). Following will be the social credit system implications, which grades their citizens based on their actions, can be linked to increasing observation. Gaming behaviors might be used to determine a person's social credit score, leading to a deeper integration of personal activities into a complete monitoring framework (Canales & Mok 2022). Moving on, this will also impact on privacy rights from the view on China's own residents, the need for greater surveillance to enforce gaming prohibitions jeopardize individual's private rights. Personal freedom requires the ability to engage in leisure time without continual surveillance. Surveillance strategies, if not well regulated, could violate on fundamental rights and violate privacy standards in digital fields (Cao 2023).

Fourthly, having the balancing act in addressing concerns by conducting educational initiatives, a more comprehensive approach to addressing gaming addiction problems includes educational programs. Awareness campaigns, school initiatives, and parental assistance might all be used to promote appropriate gaming habits (Huaxia 2021). Following the collaborative with gaming industry, rather than tight limitations, can lead to the creation of self-regulatory solutions. Game creators may take the lead in implementing features that promote safe gaming, such as timers and progress monitoring. Lastly, to avoid unwanted surveillance, strong privacy measures must be put in place. To guarantee that surveillance techniques are reasonable, essential, and respect individuals' privacy rights, clear legislation and oversight rules should be in place (Associated Press 2021).

To conclude, China's restrictions on internet gaming for anyone under the age of 18 throughout the week have serious implications for both the younger population and the gaming business. Increased surveillance adds another degree of complicating factors, increasing worries about individual privacy rights and the larger impacts on digital rights. Balancing the need for responsible gaming with the preservation of individual rights necessitates a sophisticated and collaborative strategy that takes into account the different interests at stake in China's changing digital governance landscape.

References:

Soo, Z 2023, "China keeping 1 hour daily limit on kid's online games", APnews, 20 January, viewed 13 November 2023, <https://apnews.com/article/gaming-business-children-00db669defcc8e0ca1fc2dc54120a0b8>.

Yang, Y & Goh, B 2023, "Explainer: Why and how China is drastically limiting online gaming for under 18s", Reuters, 1 September, viewed 13 November 2023, <https://www.reuters.com/world/china/why-how-china-is-drastically-limiting-online-gaming-under-18s-2021-08-31/>.

Ye, J 2023, "China’s video game makers come in from the cold as crackdown eases", Reuters, 20 January, viewed 13 November 2023, <https://www.reuters.com/technology/chinas-video-game-makers-come-cold-crackdown-eases-2023-01-20/#:~:text=Most%20notably%2C%20in%20September%202021,its%20games%20had%20plunged%2092%25.>.

Brooke, S 2021, "What to Make of the New Regulations in China’s Gaming Industry", China Briefing, 16 November, viewed 13 November 2023, <https://www.china-briefing.com/news/what-to-make-of-the-new-regulations-in-china-online-gaming-industry/>.

Chen, F 2022, "How Chinese Regulations Are Disrupting the Games Market Inside China and Out", NewZoo, 9 November, viewed 14 November 2023, <https://newzoo.com/resources/blog/how-chinese-games-regulations-are-disrupting-the-games-market-inside-china-and-out>.

Canales, K & Mok, A 2022, "China's 'social credit' system ranks citizens and punishes them with throttled internet speeds and flight bans if the Communist Party deems them untrustworthy", Business Insider, 29 November, viewed 13 November 2023, <https://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4#:~:text=China%20has%20been%20rolling%20out,making%20it%20mandatory%20for%20everyone.>.

Cao, A 2023, "China video game industry publishes draft of self-discipline rules for promotion and distribution of new titles", South China Morning Post, 14 March, viewed 13 November 2023, <https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3213514/chinas-video-gaming-industry-publishes-draft-self-discipline-rules-promotion-and-distribution-new>.

Huaxia, 2021, "Why China acts tough to limit online gaming for minors?", XINHUANET, 2 September, viewed 12 November 2023, <http://www.news.cn/english/2021-09/02/c_1310164734.htm>.

Associated Press, 2021, "China to monitor online gaming restrictions for children", 17 September, viewed 20 November 2023, <https://www.dailysabah.com/business/tech/china-to-monitor-online-gaming-restrictions-for-children>.