#so obviously i needed placeholders

[gaysonlyocean]

np!!!!! ALT RUTH YOU SAY? -silly

perhaps i did! perhaps i did say alt!ruth!

[erythristicbones]

i don't feel like copying what i wrote, so take some screenshots of me having brainworms for the JDK villains again. primarily spurred by me going "hey wouldn't Nisha and Artemis and Apollo make cool rockstars instead"

[televinita]

I did it, the Marvel seal is broken, I have watched one (1) full episode of Loki.

I have some thoughts but they are tied up in the complication of me also needing to explain the 3 nights of hoovering up relevant movie clips on YouTube to admit that as of this week, I am secretly slightly more well informed than my previous post suggests, so I will just leave you with the enthralled realization I had as the credits rolled:

“It’s like if Severance were fun.”

[vaadazen-codes]

How To Get Started Making Visual Novels

Wanna make a visual novel? Or maybe you've seen games like Our Life, Blooming Panic, Doki Doki Literature Club, etc. and wanna make something like that? Good news, here's a very basic beginners guide on how to get started in renpy and what you need to know going in! Before you start, I highly recommend looking at my last post about writing a script for renpy just to make it easier on you!

LONG POST AHEAD

Obviously, our first step is downloading it from their website

thankfully, its right on the home page of their site. Follow basica program installation steps and run the program. I highly recommend pinning it to your task bar to make it easier to access.

From there, you're met with the renpy app, it's a little daunting at first but let's talk about what all these buttons are for.

Projects

This part is simple, it just lists the current projects in the chosen directory. You probably won't have any in there of your own. You should still see Tutorial and The Question!

Both of those default projects are super helpful in their own ways, i highly recommend testing out the tutorial and playing around with it just to get comfortable with some of the basics.

Create New Project

The first step to actually making your game into a game!

You'll be met with a prompt letting you know that the project is being made in English and that you can change it. You can click Continue.

From here, you'll be asked to input a project name! Put in your games title, or even a placeholder title since this Information can be changed later! (this is also the title the folder will be in your file browser, be sure to name it something you won't overlook)

Now we get to choose our resolution!

If you have no idea what to choose, go for 1920x1080! This is the standard size for most computer monitors and laptops, but it will still display with moderately decent quality on 4k monitors too!

You can choose 3840x2160 as well. This is 2x the measurements of the default, with the same ration. These dimensions are considered 4k. Keep in mind, your image files will be bigger and can cause the game to have a larger size to download.

Now we get to choose our color scheme!

Renpy has some simple default options with the 'light mode' colors being the bottom two rows, and the 'dark mode' colors being the toop two rows.

You can pick anything here, but I like to choose something that matches my projects vibes/colors better. Mostly because depending on how in depth you go with the ui, it minimizes the amount of changes I need to make later.

Click continue and give it a minute. Note: If it says "not responding" wait a moment without clicking anything. It can sometimes freeze briefly during the process.

Now we should be back at our home screen, with our new project showing. Let's talk about allll that stuff on the right now.

Open Directory

This just opens that particular folder in your local file explorer!

game - is all the game files, so your folders for images, audio, saves, and your game files like your script, screens, and more.

base - this is the folder that the game folder is inside of. You can also find the errors and log txt files in here.

images - takes you to your main images folder. This is where you wanna put all of your NON gui images, like your sprites, backgrounds, and CGs. You can create folders inside of this and still call them in the script later. EX: a folder for backgrounds , a folder for sprites for character a, a seperate folder for spirtes for character b, etc.

audio - Takes you to the default audio folder. This is empty, but you can put all your music and sound effects here!

gui - brings up the folder containing all of the default renpy gui. It's a good place to start/ reference for sizes if you want to hand draw your UI pieces like your text box!

Edit File

Simple enough, this is just where you can open your code files in whatever text/code editor you have installed.

Script.rpy - where all of your story and characters live. This is the file you'll spend most of your time in at first

Options.rpy - Contains mostly simple information, like project name and version. There aren't a ton of things in here you need to look at. There is also some lines of code that help 'archive' certain files by file type so that they can't be seen by players digging in code however. Fun if you want to hide some images in there for later or if you just dont want someone seeing how messy your files are. We've all been there

Gui.rpy - where all of the easy customization happens. Here you can change font colors, hover colors, fonts, font sizes, and then the alignment and placement of all of your text! Like your dialogue and names, the height of text buttons, etc. It more or less sets the defaults for a lot of these unless you choose to change them later.

Screens.rpy - undeniably my favorite, this is where all of the UI is laid out for the different screens in your game, like the main menu, game menu, quick menu, choice menu, etc. You can add custom screens too if you want, but I always make my own seperate file for these.

Open Project - this just opens all of those files at once in the code editor. Super handy if you make extra files like I do for certain things.

Actions

last but not least, our actions.

Navigate Script - This feature is underrated in my honest opinion, it's super handy for help debugging! In renpy you can comment with # before a line. However, if you do #TODO and type something after it, it saves it as a note! You can view these TODO's here as well as easily navigate to when certain screens are called, where different labels are (super great if your game is long, and more. It saves some scrolling.

Check Script (Lint) - also super duper handy for debugging some basic things. It also tells you your word count! But its handy for letting you know about some errors that might throw up. I like using it to look for sprites I may or may not have mispelled, because they show up in there too.

Change/Update GUI - Nifty, though once you start customizing GUI on your own, it isn't as useful. You can reset the project at any point and regenerate the image files here. This updates all those defaults we talked about earlier.

Delete Persistent - this just helps you delete any persistent data between play throughs on your end. I like to use it when making a lot of changes while testing the game, so that I can reboot the game fresh.

Force Recompile - Full disclosure, as many games as I've made and as long as I've been using Renpy, i have never used this feature. I searched to see what it does and this is the general consesus: Normally renpy tries to be smart about compiling code (creating .rpyc files) and only compiles .rpy files with changes. This is to speed up the process since compiling takes time. Sometimes you can make changes that renpy don't pick up on and therefore won't recompile. In these cases you can run force recompile to force it. Another solution (if you know what file is affected) is to delete that specific. rpyc file.

The rest of your options on this right hand side are how you make executable builds for your game that people can download to extract and play later!

Sorry gang! that was a whole lot of text obviously the last button "Launch Project" launches an uncompiled version of the project for you to play and test as you go! Hang in tight because my next post is about how to utilize github for renpy, so you can collaborate easier!

[super-who-locked-me-in-here]

Okay I need people to look at these two gifs together:

This gif made by @lousolversons

And this gif by @not-psychotic

THAT IS THE SAME SMILE. THAT IS HUGH DANCY'S ROMCOM SMILE AND I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT THE DIFFERENCES IN THE WAY HUGH PRESENTS IT FOR EACH MOMENT.

First of all, the moment presented in the first gif is why I believe Will did love Molly. Yes, I'm a firm believer that Will still held feelings for Hannibal while he was with Molly, but I don't think she was a placeholder. The way I think Will's love for Hannibal and Molly works at the same time is like when you meet a widower who remarried.

Yes the widower (Will) still loves his first spouse (Hannibal), and it's terrible that they were ripped apart the way they were, but he can eventually move on. And he loves his new spouse (Molly), but there will always be a part of his heart that belongs to his first spouse. Except in the case of this analogy Hannibal isn't actually dead and he will come back.

And I mean, honestly, if the love of your life died and came back completely in one piece and still loved you after years of separation, what would you do? Would you tell them to move on because you've found someone else that you love almost as much as you loved them? Or would you discard your new spouse for the one you had always imagined you'd stay with? It's a really difficult decision.

But anyway I do wanna analyze these smiles. Obviously in the second gif Will is smiling at Hannibal, but in the first gif, Will is smiling at Jack while talking about Molly. They're the same smile but they're also so different.

In the first gif, the "romcomness" of the smile almost feels exaggerated. It's the way he smiled and kind of laughed but especially it's the way he broke eye contact. He breaks eye contact but the smile stays. It says "Molly and I can't see each other completely, but I'm happy enough." It reads as coy in a way we know Will Graham is not. It's a performance, but it's a performance based on a truth.

On the other hand, in the second gif, Will's smile is there but more subdued. Of course it could be just that he's tired and/or in pain as he's obviously injured, but to me it's lesser because it's just him and Hannibal. He doesn't need to wear his mask for Jack or for Molly or for anyone else. And he keeps eye contact with Hannibal even as his smile falls away because he and Hannibal can see each other. They accept the good (the smile) and the bad (the loss of the smile) in each other but that's okay for them because they're true to each other like they are to no one else.

The way Will smiles at Hannibal in the second gif is so much more intimate than the way he smiled about Molly in the second gif, and I can't help but wonder: if we got more scenes where Will and Molly were interacting face to face (because let's be honest there's not many), would Will smile the same way he did in the second gif? Would he even smile at her the same way he does talking about her in the first gif, or is that just him trying to appear like the happy/satisfied husband in front of company? I know Will loved Hannibal, and I know Will loved Molly, but these two gifs side by side just confirm for me that what he felt for Hannibal was so much more impactful for Will than his love for Molly.

[crumblinggothicarchitecture]

Taylor Swift Can't Write- She is not a serious or important writer. She is blatantly normalizing cheating in her music.

Let’s talk about Taylor Swift’s honest attempt at coherent narrative -  

Just to be clear, the songs in question: Betty (2020), August (2020), and Cardigan (2020). 

In these songs, Swift, of her own insistence, makes a clear attempt at drafting together a coherent storyline. I, however, found her work lacking while considering it against the many thousands of other short stories I have read. It lacks any sincerity in giving the moment in which the characters experience self-reflection, or "Epiphany" moment, and growth.

An Epiphany is defined as a sudden spiritual manifestation- and it is this I would posit as something that Swift clearly lacks in her writing. She lacks the spiritual, or emotional, depth to accurately tell a so-called "coming-of-age" type story in which the main requirement is that the character has an "Epiphany" about the nature of life to signify them growing up.

I will explain:  

A short story- which I am analogizing to the multi-song arch from Swift- is typically meant to have an epiphany moment in which the main character finally calcifies the main point or the moral of the story. Without the impact of this moment within a short narrative- there is no arc, no moral, and therefore no real story.

Afterall, what is a story, but a coherent subsistence of writing aimed at identifying some universality of human existence (eg.) a moral, a point, or the main message? If I want to get philosophical about it (and I always do), narrative is the act of creation through which the particulars become implicit to a universal experience. Thus, it is a necessity of storytelling- to include the thematic message- or moral backbone of the work.  

Swift’s three song arc is intrinsically incoherent, so it becomes difficult to pinpoint exactly what each character is thinking or feeling. I would, however, suggest that through lines like “slept next to her, but / I dreamt of you all summer long” (“Betty” 2020), and lines like “I never needed anything more/ whispers of ‘Are you sure?’ / ‘Never have I ever before’” (“August” 2020). Therein builds an internal tension between the three characters, James seems to be lamenting his choices to sleep with August and ditch Betty for the summer; whereas August is honestly expressing the fact that this is her first time, so it becomes obvious this means a lot to her. First, we see James's apologizing to Betty saying that the other girl, essentially means nothing by saying he was dreaming of Betty all summer even while with August. We also get the other perspective of the other girl losing her virginity to James during the same summer in which he is thinking about Betty every night.

Already, all the characters are set up to be dislikable- which is not always to the detriment of storytelling. However, it is to the detriment of her storytelling that at no point Swift makes use of external POV, or internal POV, to show any form of personal growth or condemnation of the intuitively morally corrupt actions of James here. Thus, there is no real story- according to the theory of “short-story” telling I laid out above.  

It is her lack of condemnation towards cheating- and the immature irreverence James treats August with- that solidifies this arc as being a rather poor attempt at coherent narrative. Simply, Swift is either an inept storyteller- or she is blatantly normalizing cheating while also treating “the other woman” like a placeholder. (Clearly, Anti-Feminist rhetoric, btw). It’s especially bad that this storyline reaches no “moral of the story” since it is so obviously August’s first time. 

The closest we get to any kind of meta-narrative commentary on thematic point, from Swift as the external 3rd person POV, is with this line “A friend to all is a friend to none/ Chase two girls, lose the one/ When you are young, they assume you know nothing” (“Cardigan” 2020). Again, her use of POV is rather amateurish- because she returns to internal 1st person POV with use of the word “you” in the latter half of the line- which leads me to believe she really doesn’t know how to inculcate the different POV’s into her writing. She’s an amateur- and there's is nothing inherently wrong with that, however, if we could all stop lauding her as literary genius when she is so clearly not that would be “awesome.” Thanks.  

She continues the rest of the song back into Betty’s 1st person POV. The poignant nature of this line about "losing one girl" doesn’t land because the rest of the song is about how James is returning to Betty. Swift writes, “I knew you’d miss me once the thrill expired/ and you’d be standing in my front porch light/ And I knew you’d come back to me” (“Cardigan” 2020). Beside the fact that this line is internally incoherent held up against the setting of “Betty” which is broad daylight, so James would not actually be in the porch light if the sunlight suffices, it is also quite obviously the culmination in which Betty is taking James's back. If there is any thematic message here- and I can only loosely believe this is an actual message here- Swift is saying that cheating is Okay as long as the girl, you actually respect and want, is willing to forgive you.  

And I’m supposed to enjoy this arc? People are supposed to be impressed with Swift because she came up with this garbage?  

She clearly has no grasp on Narrative coherence, no grasp of utilizing POV switching to make narrative more emotionally impactful, and no grasp on how to embed a good moral of the story into her work. So, she has none of the markings of actual great writer.  

The effect of all this is a subterfuge of lackluster emotional appeals- and a toxic love triangle that never resolves into personal self-reflection or growth. The story devolves into blameless banality with no personality or literary value whatsoever- just a reiteration of self-centered egoism that enables James to act without thought to the feelings of others. This is what Swift propagates as good storytelling? Is this morally sound story telling?  

Let me further drive my point home by dichotomizing this pitiful attempt at narrative coherence with the work of a literary genius, James Joyce.  

Has anyone here ever read “Araby” (1914) by James Joyce? (Sidenote: If you love when Hozier talks about issues of British colonialism in Ireland- you will most likely enjoy James Joyce as well- if you love critique of both organize religion and its sociohistorical ties to colonialism- you'll love Joyce).  

My critique too- ties into Joyce, where he showcases the blissful ignorance, or naivety, of youth in pursuit of love, Swift showcases no such thing. She is often praised for her juvenile writing schema- yet in her most overt attempt at writing a youthful romance she fails to interject the most important aspect of youth- Naivety versus painful realizations. In adulthood, when we all reprise the past, and trace back into our memories, we often speak fondly of the naivety of youth- with a little knowing twinkle in our eyes as young people around us make the same mistakes we did. It’s so beautifully human to reflect like this- and Swift manages to add nothing of this universal human experience into her work, even though it is often said that her only saving grace is the ability to capture “teenage petulance” and the proclivities of youth. In other words, I’m saying she’s not even doing the thing she’s known for well enough. She writes this love story like they’re all a bunch of bitter adults, not kids stepping into thoughts of love for the first time. There’s no simple wonder at love- instead, she writes about cheating and feeling jaded. Ditching people for the summer only to come back to the first girl with an "I'm sorry" and "she meant nothing."  Where is the personal growth in a story like that? In which James gets away with saying "she meant nothing," and August is not shown having any agency or reclamation of self after James essentially uses her. Then, to top it all off, Betty most likely gets back together with James. There is no growth to speak of in any of this- it does not qualify as a "coming of age" story- nor does it particularly qualify as a story at all.

This is like English Creative Writing 101 class- btw. It's strange that Swift does not grasp concepts I've taught to college freshmen before. If the freshmen can handle learning it- surely Swift could also be able to learn and improve the thing she does as a job? Right? No?

 “Araby” is a story of a similar predicate to Swift attempt at narrative. So, I thought it most apt to include here as an example which also employs use of Epiphany in short story telling.  

In quick summation, “Araby” is the story of a young boy who has a rather intense crush on a neighbor girl. He promises this girl that he will go buy her something at the market, and in doing so sets off a sequence of events which leads to his ultimate disillusionment with the ideals of youth and love.

Early on in his character development, we see a boy who has an overly romantic view on life, with lines like “All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring: ‘O love! O love!’ many times” (“Araby” Joyce). He is so clearly caught up in the longing for this girl- that he truly forgets reality for a moment. His senses slip from him, and he is fully immersed into the lost revery of his little crush on the neighbor girl. Then, like magic, she speaks to him for the first time the next day. She asks him if he will go to the market, and he responds eagerly- Yes. He promises to buy her something.  

The conflict of the story happens at this point- the young boy meets every obstacle in life preventing him from getting to the market on time. He struggles to find money and then he struggles to find the time in the midst of his other obligations to his family. Joyce is clearly showcasing how our romantic visions of life, of everything going perfectly and romance being easy, can so easily be disrupted by the realities of poverty and the responsibility we all bear for family or others.  

The end of the short story outlines the “moral of the story” in which the young man, now nearly too late for the market and without enough money to actually buy anything, with the last refrain that “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (“Araby” Joyce). Thus, Joyce drives home the "epiphany" moment, or the self-reflective moment of character growth, as it pertains to the fruitless endeavors of youthful vanity in romance. Stating, essentially, that people only dream of overly romantic scenes to bolster their own perception of reality as something that should go perfect for them. Life is not perfect, nor is it ever fair, and nothing happens as fantasy suggests it should- this is the hardest, and often the first, life lesson young people ever face. Anguish and Anger. What a beautiful phrase to remark upon- as this poor young man realizes life is comprised mostly of being “a day late and a buck short.”

This intensity- this moral backbone is what brings the story to life. The way this story enumerates the youthful hope- to the burgeoning adult reality- as something full of anguish -allows readers to bridge empathy towards others as WE all grow up in a difficult world. This is the "Epiphany." This appeal universal human experience, through particular circumstances like that of a young man in early 1900’s Dublin, is what is missing in Swift’s work. She gives us nothing but her own selfish refraction of immoral behavior without any appeal to greater human impulse or discovery.  Her work rings hollow in the face of actually talented writers like Joyce. She lacks the same depth, sophistication, and ability to actually make the story into a narrative arc.

She claims to write about teenage, coming of age-esque, discovery yet lacks any ability to actually showcase, with empathy, the ways in which anguish at their own naïveté presupposes teenage petulance.  

She writes out the most shallow- surface level depiction of some b-plot from a bad fanfiction and wants to pretend that she is a literary genius. Yawn. 

Addendum- I am aware that “Araby” is also a story predicated on ideas of Freedom vs Colonialism. To those of you who know the story well, I hope you don’t mind I choose to focus in on the “coming-of-age" part of the story in order to more clearly connect it to Swift’s work. I am not, however, ignoring the real sociohistorical implications of poverty, colonialist attitudes, and human rights thematic points in the story. I know.  

“Araby” by James Joyce is free at The Project Gutenberg eBook of Dubliners, by James Joyce  

[cheezeybread]

Random Twisted Wonderland Headcanons I have that I feel the need to share with the world, sucks to be anyone reading this!

KALIM

Kalim wasn't going to be invited to NRC, obviously, since he didn't have "exemplary" magic, as either Jamil or Crowley said in the game (I forgot which, FORGIVE ME), but it's clear that he would have been accepted into Royal Sword Academy due to his nature.

Kalim's family knew that Kalim would have been safer at Royal Sword, but they also knew that the school wouldn't accept their "donations" as well. Plus, they knew Jamil was going to NRC, and knew how much Kalim had bonded to the boy.

And, obviously, Jamil would be more than happy to watch over Kalim and ensure that he gets better at magic and has a good time, right? So off to NRC you go, Kalim! Oh, lookie here, you're in the same dorm as Jamil now! How convenient!

So, to sum it up, the Asim family made sure Kalim got into NRC despite the "dangerous" students because they knew Jamil would be there to protect and serve him. Ouchies

MERFOLK

Two different kinds of merfolk- sirens and fishfolk (aka, the kinds of merfolk desended from animals-- not sure what to call them, so fisfolk is a placeholder lol--, like the tweels and Azul). Sort of the same vibe as Beastmen and humans

While it's not technically cannibalism for a "fishfolk" to eat the creature they're descended from, a lot of cultures believe it to be a sin to do so, and some just get the willies from it.

Nudity is really not a big deal to merfolk. Like, most of them don't wear clothes, and those that do only wear robes and stuff to symbolize their class/status in society underwater. On land, they have to have a crash course in how to wear clothes and what to wear when. Floyd was very prone to accidentally forget to wear clothes and wander the halls of Octavinelle naked during his freshman year (much to the horror of his dorm members)

The Merfolk don't eat each other 24/7, nor pose as much of a threat to each other as wild animals do- some find it extremely offensive that land-dwellers assume all mer-predators eat whatever other merpeople they can sink their teeth into. They live together in a society similar to the one on land. Of course, the elements and wild creatures pose more of a threat to them than natural land-predators, but the merfolk themselves aren't in the habit of killing one another.

HOWEVER, there is a special law amongst them that if another merperson is causing undue harm to them/a loved one, murder is justified. And, of course, they must consume the flesh of the merperson killed and send the head back to the killed one's family for closure reasons. They may not eat each other that often, but in the Ocean, it's more natural and well-accepted to eat whoever you killed (in self-defense, ofc, if it wasn't in self-defense, then you are going to JAIL, queen!) to show that you respected the fight they put up and to honor their memory. It's more of an ancient tradition that's now just a part of what they do.

HEARSLABYUL

This one was brought to me in a VISION (aka me reading part 3 of Cater's Vignette for one of his cards when I noticed the background Heartslabyul students all had Suit characters on their faces)

All of the dorm members are assigned a "card suit" after their orientation- this suit is determined by the Housewarden (who is assigned the role of the "king/queen" of the dorm and doesn't need a suit), who bases his decision off of the personality of the student, their grades, and their ambitions. No one but the Housewarden knows why they're put in the suit they are.

There's a big initiation ceremony when the Housewarden finishes deciding the Suits for the freshmen, and they host a special ceremony in their dorm's yard that involves a series of tasks for the freshmen to go through- involving a maze-run with juniors chasing after them, a hedgehog obstacle course, and a special game that the Housewarden makes per year off of one of the Queen of Heart's rules. Once the initiation ceremony is done, and the suits are given to each freshmen, they will then be responsible for painting their suit on their face wherever they want to for the rest of their time on campus.

IGNIHYDE

For most Housewardens, a student needs to challenge the existing housewarden and duel them to claim their title.

For Ignihyde, they do things differently. Because they're all more skilled in technology for the most part, they'll have a challenge to see who can build something the best (whether it be a robot, a toy machine, etc etc- the decision of what to make will be voted on by the dorm members). At the end of the challenge, all of the students in the dorm will vote on who did the best- but they aren't told which invention was made by whom as to avoid favoritism, and boom! That's the new Dorm Leader.

Idia brought Ortho into the dorm and everyone just assumed that that was his challenge to the existing dorm leader LMAO

It really wasn't....but the current dorm leader was so in awe of Ortho and Idia's intelligence that he gave up his position (practically forcing it into Idia lol) for him.

[misscheavus]

(( REMINDER ))

I KNOW YOU’RE MAD // BUT SHE AIN’T EVEN WORTH NONE OF MY TIME

PAIRING: Jealous(?) Minah Lee x F!Reader (referred to as ‘girlfriend’ and ‘girl’)

WARNINGS: I wrote Redy a not the greatest person and I apologise for that, but the plot needed it D: (Not proofread (sorry)), swearing

LENGTH: 1,340+ words

This is a work of fiction and is in no way a reflection, description or depiction of any person(s) in real life. Images and names are merely used as placeholders in this work. You are responsible for the media that you consume.

Minah couldn’t help herself, rolling her eyes as she watched the interaction unfold in front of her. Maybe Bada’s beef with Redy wasn’t as unfounded as the team she thought. Fuck, at this rate, she might join her leader in her view of the 1Million dancer.

She watched as Redy brushed your hair away from your face, running her hand down your arm as she drowned you in compliments so obnoxiously loud that Minah could hear her from across the stage: “Oh my gosh, you’re so talented!” “I’m so envious of how your body moves!” “Your body is so incredible! You must work out lots to be so strong and pretty.” “You’re so flexible! You’ll have to show me sometime.”

Minah almost gagged.

And maybe she did because Bada turns from her spot in front of the girl, an eyebrow raised and stupid, knowing smirk plastered on her face.

“You good?” Bada places a hand on the younger’s knee, squeezing gently. Minah simply scoffed, not wanting to dignify her feelings with a response. Unfortunately for her, that was more than enough of an answer for the leader. She laughed, turning away from the girl and joining Minah in observing the situation in front of them develop. Bada tilts her head, looking back up and noticing Minah purposefully looking away, the tips of her ears red. “She looks uncomfortable, Minah. That’s more what I’d be worried about.” Bada hums, leaning back on her hands.

It’s almost comical how quickly Minah’s head snaps back to watch you closely.

It’s not like you were dating… well, you weren’t exclusive (yet). But you were something, right? Minah wasn’t even sure if she had any right feeling the emotions she was feeling… but focusing back in on the two of you and the way you were reacting to the other dancer made her emotions feel more justified.

She felt heat claw up her neck, wrapping around her chest tightly the more she watched. Even though you were giggling and seemed to be playing along… something looked off. Minah leaned forward, observing… almost waiting for the other dancer to make a wrong move and let her pounce.

You moved back quickly, just out of immediate reach of Redy’s overly touchy hands as she seemed to reach for your face again. Minah watches you bow, putting more distance between you, eyes darting away from the forward woman and thanking her for whatever stupid shit she said. You scratch your forearm, gulping obviously as you try to shuffle back.

Bada was right. You were uncomfortable. And Minah wasn’t going to sit opposite you and let you be uncomfortable.

She stands abruptly, Bada leaning out of the way and letting the younger step past her.

Minah has tunnel vision; seeing nothing but you, trying to politely turn Redy’s advances down. It’s even worse because your team can’t even understand what’s being said to help you out. “Oh, thank you for the offer, but I’m not interested. We’re really busy, and I’ve already got someone in my life…” She hears your quiet response as she gets closer.

‘…Did she ask you out?’ The anger bubbles over inside Minah. She all but storms up to the pair, arms crossed intimidatingly. “She’s saying no, Redy. She’s uncomfortable. Leave her alone. You got your answer.” Minah’s bluntness is a welcome relief. You quietly let out a sigh as Minah stands in front of you, feeling the weight lift slightly off your chest.

“Sorry, were you involved in our conversation? I don’t think you were, actually-“ Redy starts, moving closer to you again.

“I am because you’re coming onto my girlfriend. And I’d really suggest backing up before things get bad for you. Quickly.” Minah’s eyes are narrowed, chest puffed as she takes a step closer. You look over at Redy, her eyes now wide as she puts the pieces together. You quietly apologise to the girl, before standing and taking Minah’s arm and leading her off-set and into an unoccupied corridor backstage.

“No, let me back at her. I swear to God-“

You place both hands on Minah’s shoulders, squeezing gently. That stops her rage for a moment, finally focusing on you. “Are you okay? She didn’t touch you, did she? I know you were uncomfortable… I just…” Minah’s eyes closed for a moment, trying to calm herself.

“I really shouldn’t find you that attractive when you’re jealous and overprotective.” Minah’s eyes pop open, looking at you incredulously.

“I was not jealous. I-“

Before she can open her mouth to keep lying, you answer her questions, “She only touched my arm, and I’m okay. Just… unsettled? Sorry, you had to help me deal with her. I just… didn’t know how to stop her without coming across as rude. You did a good job though.” You smile, hands deftly sliding up her shoulders and to her face, cupping her cheeks.

Minah brings her hands to rest over yours, sighing. “Don't apologise, baby. Just be rude. I hate watching people try and take advantage of your kindness. Especially like that. Bitch.” She hissed the last word quietly, feeling your fingers tap her cheek in response to her choice of words. The anger Minah had before fills her body for a moment before it softens as she meets your eyes. You take a step closer, Minah’s hands now dropping to your waist, thumbs caressing your skin. She sighs, “I… sorry. I hate seeing you uncomfortable, even a little bit. I care about you too much to see you like that…”

You’re both quiet for a moment, simply enjoying each other's presence; Minah squeezes your waist as she tries to calm down again, ignoring the nagging feeling in her heart as her brain keeps replaying the events of before over and over. Redy's hands on your face, your arms... She bites her lip, suppressing her internal desire to go back out and-

“So… girlfriend, huh?” You can’t help but tease the girl in front of you, breaking her building bitterness, laughing as she groans and rests her head against your shoulder. You bring a hand up and stroke the back of her head, still giggling. “I liked it before you apologise. You should introduce me like that more often.” You feel Minah’s body tense before she pulls back to look at you.

“Yeah?” She smiles so cutely you can feel your heart race at her beauty, “You wanna be my girlfriend? You’ll be mine?” You return her loving smile, resting your foreheads together. “Mhm. As long as you’ll be mine.” Minah all but smirks at your reply, pulling back a little further and resting her palm on the back of your neck and brings you in. The glint in her eyes as her gaze drops to your lips giving you all the answers you need as she closes the distance between you.

————

About 10 minutes later, you both emerge, back at the ring, hands entwined. Minah walks you back to your crew, squeezing your hand once more before returning to Bebe. Bada and Lusher stifle a laugh, Tatter motioning for the younger to come to them. Reaching up, Tatter wipes away smeared lipstick from the corner of Minah’s swollen lips. “Maybe next time you get all macho for your girl, look in a mirror before you come back?” The three giggle as they adjust Minah’s jacket and hair, askew and mused from your hands.

“Poor girl, did you maul her in, like, five minutes?” Lusher chuckles, noticing the already darkening mark on your neck from across the room… on the side of your neck that faced the 1Million crew.

Minah can’t even bring herself to be embarrassed, looking over at you and sending you a cheeky wink, before meeting Redy's eyes. Minah raises an eyebrow, wiping her lips and smirking at the elder, unable to stop herself from mouthing a quick 'mine' and glancing in your direction. She can't help relishing in how quickly Redy averts her eyes from both of you, laughing quietly.

Yeah, this was way better than her plan about 15 minutes ago.

[buddiesmutslut]

Okay, so I want Buddie to get together before Chris comes home, right? So, they get Chris, spend a few days getting everyone settled back into the swing of things, and then either 1) they don't get a chance to tell him, or 2) they do, and it doesn't go great (which I feel like is something that's going to happen regardless, I need Christopher to be an angsty teen with abandonment issues in 4k)

BUT

Before they can sit down again and figure everything out, they get a call for another wildfire or a crossover or whatever that requires them to leave town for a little bit.

Obviously, Eddie can't go, because he just got Christopher back home and he really doesn't want to leave him again, even temporarily, but Buck has to go because people need help.

Cue Buck & Eddie spending time apart for the first time since they got together, sleeping in different beds hundreds of miles away from the other, and both spiraling a little bit. Eddie because he's worried that Buck is finally getting some time away from him and the mess that he was in Chris' absence and is worried that he doesn't want to keep wading through Eddie's problems,

And Buck because Chris is back now, and what if Eddie doesn't need him anymore? What if he was just a stand-in or a placeholder for Chris, but now his son is back and Eddie is on his own two feet again and what if he doesn't need Buck anymore, and if he doesn't need him, then why would he keep him around?

Extra points if telling Chris doesn't go well so they're trying to figure that out and cell service is spotty and they don't know what the other is thinking because they're so far away and if they were closer, they would just be together and solve the problem, but they're not so they're relying on delayed messages and downed phone lines and a game of phone tag.

And then, obviously, Buck gets home, and they realize they were spiraling over nothing because they've been building a life together for far longer than the few months they've been kissing, and Buck sits and talks with Christopher, and everything is fine.

AND THEN I NEED TIM TO LEAVE THEIR RELATIONSHIP ALONE. No breakups like in a lot of other main couples (Chenford, Booth & Brennan, I'm looking at you guys.) no! None of that! They've suffered enough, give them plot lines without breaking them up.

Give them better arcs with their parents, BRING US EDDIE'S GODDAMN SISTERS and the drama I K N O W is hiding there. Give us Buck focusing on his career (and also maybe slip in an official ADHD diagnosis, what, who said that?) Give us them talking about raising another kid, kill off an obscure family member and a stroll down memory lane (I absolutely do not mean Isabel Diaz, you keep your filthy paws OFF Eddie's abuela, bitches. I love her so so so so much lol).

Give them character arcs that have nothing to do with them possibly breaking up. They deserve storyline's that are more than just about their love interest. Literally, Buck's coming out wasn't even about him, it was all about Tommy and I'm so sick of it. Buck and Eddie are interesting characters! They are M A I N characters, give them better storylines. (Esp Eddie bc genuinely, wtf have you all done to my boy??)

[mellosdrawings]

i loved seeing your character sheets for yuu and hayeli, especially hayeli’s!! it’s clear that a lot of thought went into them and i think his on/off mode is such an interesting concept (also a pomefiore student with blemishes?? yes please!!)

i’d be super curious what your creation process looked like, i.e if where there concepts you scrapped or how you went about choosing a name for them (it’s just a topic i love talking and hearing about but of course you don’t have to get into it if you don’t want to :])

not me also having ideas for an oc with mirror magic, but based on the mirror from the snow queen instead

First I'm so glad you like my characters! It seems Hayeli's bad skin is very popular and I love it! Give me more teenagers with bad skin and not making a huge deal out of it please!

As for my process... dear, that'll be a long post.

General process

Ok so my general character creation process starts with two ways:

1. I have a role to fill in a story that can't be fulfilled by a pre-existing character

2. I have a vibe and I need to turn it into a character

From those needs and/or wants, I'll go through several steps:

1. Age: surprisingly deciding on a character's age first unlocks at least half of its mental and physical design. Is it an adult who already has its shit together or a teen in the middle of a crisis?

2. Vague personality: is the character going to be introvert or extrovert? Shy or outgoing. Proud or self depreciating. Bubbly or quiet. Easy to anger or chill. It doesn't need to be its full personality yet, just guidelines.

3. Race: for fantasy and realism. A character's skin color and cultural background will shape how they view the world a lot!

4. Gender and sexual orientation: i usually decide on the gender based on how many characters I already have of each gender, or whether I want a character to be traditionally feminine/masculine or the total opposite of what's expected. Obviously the gender will affect the design, but the orientation will also affect how the character reacts to others.

5. Assets & weaknesses: for fantasy, it'd be their powers and their shortcomings, for action it'll be their strengths and the things they haven't mastered yet, for romance it'll be their best personality trait and their worst.

Once I have that base guideline, I can start working on a chara design. Age and race help with the body, personality and strengths/weaknesses help with how they dress and present themselves. (An outgoing person will have an easier time dressing in original ways while a shy person would be more traditional for example.)

Once I have a design, I draw shitty little doodles and meme redraws until I have a better sense of their personality. Slices of life and comedy and angst are great way for me to get to know my character. For writers, it'd be writing random scenes to test the characters' reactions.

Then, I double down on the strengths and weaknesses. Make them stand out. Make sure they are coherent to the characters. Make sure the weaknesses are as important as the strength. (For example, I have a character who has super speed. Arguably one of the most cheated powers in existence. I counterbalanced it by giving him poor stamina. In theory he is all powerful. In practice, not so much.)

Lastly, I chose a name. Sometimes it's just about how the name sounds. Sometimes I'm looking for names to mean something. If your character is POC, think about whether they'd have a common name or a name from their own culture. Both are valid but you need to think about it! (For example, I have two maohi characters in the same story. One is called Fray (common name), the other is called Tanemahuta (maohi name) because they and their families have different relationships with their own culture.)

Yuu

Well, that's a strange one since Yuu already does exist in the game, but it's a blank slate, a place holder. Let's make them something worth remembering, shall we.

First, I went with their gender. Most of my placeholders characters end up nonbinary because that's what I am and also I can't be bothered to role-playing gender when playing a simple game.

Then I went with a vibe and a bullet list of things I wanted to keep from the game and things I wanted to add.

To keep:

1. Not very proactive

2. Not very talkative

To add:

1. Raccoon

2. Clever/cunning

3. Physically rather weak

From there I made a design that gave "raccoon vibes". Semi long disheveled hair, lazy eyes, lazy dress up.

Now, what was important was to make up for their weakness: they don't have magic. The world around them is harsh and they get threatened by characters having breakdowns every two months. What is there strength? For Yuu, I wanted them to be clever and cunning. Have them actually outsmart our dear schemers. That's Yuu's one and only strength, they're a schemer themself. They see others as cards that make up their hands the same way Leona sees others as chess pieces. Once you have those big pieces from earlier plus the survival instinct, you get a character that is easy to handle. They don't talk much, keep everything to themselves, manipulate others from the shadows to defend themself.

But. Let's give them one more weakness, shall we? It's funnier that way. Let's make them yearn for connection. They are a teen who got kidnapped from their family. Let's give them a big family. But they are rather independent too, so let's find a way to remove the parents from the picture to explain why they are already able to fend for themself. Now make them yearn for real friendship. Make it obvious their manipulation comes from defensiveness. Have them slip up when they interact with people they genuinely end up caring about.

And there you have Yuu.

Hayeli

Now, for Hayeli, I started out with a vibe. He's actually pretty old, comes from before the game was even released when there were only countdown arts and some vague informations about the game. As I said in his description, he's based on the Evil Queen's mirror. I didn't know at the time there were already plenty of mirrors in the game haha

Contrary to my usual process, I started with his powers first. His Signature Spell had to be something about mirrors. The easy way out would be to have him shape-shifting. There are plenty of angst and fun opportunities from shape-shifting. But that was too simple, I didn't like it. Instead I went with the capacity to copy others' magic. In game there was already Azul being able to steal others' magic through a high requirement spell, so I went with this kind of power. High requirement high reward. I don't like for my characters to be overpowered and I wanted Hayeli to just be average in magic, so I doubled down on the requirements to make his magic near useless.

Then I went on to his gimmick. He still didn't have a personality or body at the time, I really went full mirror first. Hayeli is a mirror. He copies others' magic. What if I double down and make him copy everything as a by-product of his Signature Spell? Ok, now, since I still don't like overpowered characters, how do I make it ruin his life?

And so we come to the problem of his personality: he doesn't have one. He's a blank slate. A mirror. He reproduces others' behaviors and mannerisms and personalities and he has no control over it. He has no idea who he is himself. The angst creates itself.

Once there, it was easy process for the rest. Make him a body. Average size since he's just a copy of others. Pomefiore attitude and presentation since he's in Pomefiore. I like curly hair and there aren't enough of them in Twisted Wonderland so I went with that, but they couldn't be long since Yuu already has semi long curly hair.

I still needed one way to recognize him. Make him pop amongst the other characters. What makes Hayeli physically Hayeli?

1. Moles. So many moles.

2. Bad skin. He's in Pomefiore? Do the contrary of what's expected there. Give him a malleable standard face and add bad skin to it.

3. Strange eyes. He's a mirror who can reproduce everything he sees. His eyes are important. Make them pale like mirrors, make his pupils white to reflect others, make the shape a bit blurry as if the mirror isn't perfect.

And there you have Hayeli's body!

Oh. A name? Google translate, please tell me how to say mirror in different languages please. Mirror in Armenian is "Hayeli", I like the sound of it. Sold. So Hayeli shall be Armenian irl, that'd probably be on the frontiers of the Scalding Sands (thanks a friend for helping me with that part), so maybe I should make his skin darker. Besides, dark skins in a dorm that values beauty is also not the first idea people get. Sold!

(Somewhere during the process, I actually had an objective with Hayeli. "Make him represent Teenagehood itself". Teenagehood is a particularly difficult period, teenagers try to become their own person independently from their parents. They copy each other and all the people they look up to to find what suits them best, but they also hate not being able to tell who they are as a person. Hayeli represents that struggle, and that's also why I gave him a heavy bout of acne and red cheeks and baby fat but a lean body. Teenagehood isn't pretty, and it shouldn't be. Hayeli is awkward, his body is morphing a lot, he has no idea who he is or who he wants to become, he copies others without realizing. But he also has a lot of fun. He cheats at tests, he bothers his classmates and dormmates, he has fun with makeup, he tries a lot of new things. While Yuu was meant to represent survival, Hayeli is meant to represent teenagehood, for better and for worse.)

There you have all of Hayeli's creation process.

TLDR: Mostly I just... don't go with the very first thought I get. Do you know that Pixar or maybe Disney process where they give up on the first dozen ideas they get because it's too "normal" and easy to guess? It has its flaws but I think it's not that bad. I go with the contrary of what's expected (dark bad skin for a dorm that represents beauty) or I push the concept further if I can (copying magic instead of shapeshifting). And most importantly, I give my characters flaws and weaknesses. That's the most important part of the creation to me. What can I give him that'll make him struggle? The scenario writes itself as soon as you give your characters challenges to overcome within themselves.

[rotten-games]

Rott Update

So! It's done and debugged.

It's been a long year, a hard one, but hopefully things will change and I'll be able to get back into gear and into the groove of things again (an explanation post coming soon to a theater near you).

I'm not going to lie... there's a lot here that is rough, there's a bit I'm not too proud of, but truth be told if I don't release it as is I'm never going to get anything done. FOR THE MOST PART, it is a complete experience; there should be nothing here that isn't completely playable or obviously a placeholder. If there is let me know and I'll fix that.

Keep in mind that old saves might not work with the current build. If you come across a bug and you have used an old save, you may need to restart the game to get it to work properly.

With that all well and said, if you just want to experience the game here's the link as always: https://rotten-games.itch.io/rott-book-one

If you want the full rundown here's the change log below the cut.

This version of the game includes the following:

The equivalent of the full first four chapters that were included in the original version of the game is now included. I've now caught up on the rewrites and will be moving onto the completely new chapters after a brief break.

You can now meet an additional three to six romancable characters with varying degrees of interaction; Lokeira, Korrin, Ettia, Ardwen, Nox, and Bex!

Train with Severa, Herron, or Spotter and potentially see a start to your own romances with them during the festival.

Get rejected!

Make a bargain.

Speak to a messenger of the Gods?

The original dreams in chapter one were edited. Typos were fixed and some passages were changed. In some cases, additional choices were added.

A light mode has been added. It's a little bit rough and I would like to do some further changes to it but for now it's here. If you need some changes made or additionally want further colour modes added just reach out and I can see what I can do.

The relationship screen now mentions milestones in your relationships with certain characters (both romantic and platonic!)

Known bugs:

As far as I can tell I've ironed out most of the bugs but there's always inevitably some that sneak through and I have no doubt that there will be others. There's two main things I haven't yet been able to fix.

There may be some visual issue that I haven't gotten around to but aren't a priority at the moment. If you see one please let me know so I can note it down for later.

This one is a bit illusive. You may find you are unable to progress the game near the end of the final chapter. I currently cannot replicate this bug (I've tried, trust me I've tried) and thus have no idea whether it's fixed or not so... watch out.

​That being said, I'm glad to finally get this finished. I'm gonna be having a brief break before getting back into it (mostly to find and compile my old notes for the next few chapters).

Hope you enjoy :)

[kaitsawamura]

FICS FOR GAZA

I am proud to announce I will be joining the initiative created over at @ficsforgaza! They, along with all the other incredibly talented participants, are doing some really great work. Thank you to FFG for creating a tangible way for us to help those suffering in Palestine, even if some of us can't afford to offer monetary assistance <3

THIS POST WAS LAST UPDATED 6/25/24

I might open requests in the future but for now, I am accepting proof of donation to sponsor current WIPs only.

Select a vetted donation link. You can find a good list -> HERE <-

Send me a screenshot of your donation through my inbox or in a DM. Due to these factors, donations cannot be anonymous at this time. I will also be sharing screenshots/proof of donation with @ficsforgaza for their records and verification. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU COVER/BLUR ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION ON YOUR PROOF OF DONATION.

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I will label each work individually, but please assume that everything I write will be 18+ MDNI/N*FW at one point or another.

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For every $1 donated, I will write 100 words towards your chosen WIP. I.E: If you donate $5, I will write 500 words.

Current Word Count Cap Per One Request: 1000 Words (You can show proof of a larger donation, but this is currently the most words that can be requested per person ☺︎ )

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THIS IS CURRENTLY A PLACEHOLDER

SERIES

East of My Heart (West of My Soul) | Estimated WC: 50K | Current WC: 25.5K | Chapter WC: 5.1K/12K | BNHA Folk Tale AU | Prince!Izuku Midoriya x Reader | 18+ MDNI

Donations Made to Sponsor This WIP: 1

SUMMARY: Your life is one that is abundant with family and the magic in small things.  But when a great white bear comes rumbling at your family’s cottage door one winter’s night, you are obviously taken aback.  Even more so when he speaks to you in a language you can understand and asks for your help.  Come away with him, live with him in the ice castle he calls home for a year and day and release him from the curse that blights him.  You agree to go with him even if as time goes along, it is very apparent that there is more to this polar bear than meets the eye.  There is more to a lot of different things as you learn to love the polar bear as friend and companion during the day but are visited by a mysterious man who insists on sleeping in your bed every night.  Can you last a year and a day to save the bear from this strange enchantment?  Will you learn the true identity of the man you’ve come to care so deeply for?  Will you find yourself (and maybe love) along the way?

The Farmer and The Wizard | Estimated WC: 50K | Current WC: 3.2K | Chapter WC: 1.2K/3K | JJK Stardew Valley AU | Wizard!Gojo x Farmer!Reader | 18+ MDNI

Donations Made to Sponsor This WIP: 1

SUMMARY: You need a change, a big one. When your estranged grandfather passes away and bequeaths you his farm in a little town just south of the middle of nowhere, you take it as the sign you needed to make a change instead of waiting for one. The farm, while having fallen into a state of disrepair, is just the thing to cure your modern-world ailments. The people are kind and always ready to offer help, if a bit unusual. They have old superstitions, a haunted community center, and a resident wizard. Spoiler alert: those last two on the list take some getting used to. Yes, things are different here but you have a sneaking suspicion that the slow pace and a certain alchemical practitioner are going to remind you that sometimes, all you need is time and a little bit of magic.

that's just wasteland, baby | Estimated WC: 15K | Current WC: 2.2K | BotW/TotK!Link and Zelda x Reader | 18+ MDNI

SUMMARY: Calamity Ganon has finally been vanquished for good, Link and Zelda have finally managed to break the wheel. But things are not as either of them had hoped they would be. Zelda is soon to be Queen with all the duties of such a position. Link would remain her knight and yet, he is restless. When he hears of the restoration efforts in Lurelin Village, he decides that he must go. He can’t stay cooped up within the castle walls, not after so long in the wild. Zelda and Link are unsure of the new direction their lives are taking but maybe they’ll find that their true north is you.

ONESHOTS

a shrike and a thorn | Estimated WC: 3K | Current WC: 1.2K | Priest!Kento Nanami x Congregant!Reader | 18+ MDNI

SUMMARY: You save everyone but who saves you? You don’t know what makes you step foot in that church.  But you do and you spend the next year a dutiful congregant to Father Nanami.  Devoted and kind, he’s exactly the kind of man you would expect to be a priest.  And none of this would be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that you can’t stop thinking about what it would be like to see him lose his religion between your legs.  Unbeknownst to you, the good Father is having the same kind of thoughts.  Will the two of you build a new altar at which you might worship?

They Say It's Your Birthday | Estimated WC: 3K | Current WC: 1.6K | Pro Hero!Eijiro Kirishima x Reader | 18+ MDNI

SUMMARY: Strangers to lovers (they meet in the club), birthday smut for the Birthday Boy, I've had this in my drafts for literally three years to post on Eiji's birthday.

The Indomitable Human Spirit | Estimated WC: 2-3K | Current WC: 366 | Modern!Sukuna x Reader | 18+ MDNI

Donations Made to Sponsor This WIP: 1

SUMMARY: No description for this yet either, just wanted to explore the idea of Sukuna putting his claim on you but not in the way you'd think he would, more in like the thing about how a warring alien race comes to earth and is baffled and fascinated by the enduring human spirit.

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All works marked as such belong to Kait of kaitsawamura © 2020-PRESENT. Please do not alter, repost, or copy my content.

[ananke-xiii]

Another thing about the lameness of Apocalypse World being the result of "Mary's choice" is that it gives too much weight to Azazel's deal. That demon spent a lot of energy finding his "special children" and had never even noticed Mary before Dean's interference.

Interference that happened because Castiel made Dean travel through time and told him he had to "stop it" just to show him that it wasn't possible. Of course Cas didn't know, back then, about angels basically acting as and for Chuck by manipulating people, time and events for their own benefit. Still, you have to wonder after "In the beginning" whether Cas actually realizes what he has done.

Whether Mary deals with Azazel or not doesn't matter because of the bloodlines. The only difference is that if she said no an angel would fly in, resurrect John and wipe out their memories. Just like Zachariah and Michael tell Dean in S5.

The whole thing about demon blood as necessary in order to be Lucifer's vessel is just there for effect, I think, because neither Dean nor Adam need to be "primed" to be Michael's true vessel who, apparently, is even more powerful than Lucifer. Or, I don't know, to me that doesn't track at all but I might be missing something. I mean, it kinda shows how Kripke was tired of the "special children" plotline but, yk, the awkward, giant elephant in the room is that the foundation of the show is Sam and demon blood so... they had to justify it in some way, I think. But, again, I might miss something here.

The real importance of Azazel's deal is that it highlights Mary's complete loneliness in the world: in an instant her parent and her fiancé are dead. She deals because she bargains her otherwise horrible present (which is still horrible, tbh) for an unspecified future (which she craves. a lot. we've been told. multiple times that she wants to "escape" her current life). The tragedy is precisely that she doesn't know that she's specifically damning Sam's future in the process.

The real, real tragedy, however, is that she has no choice, whatever she does, SHE will always end up there. Because Mary and John are just "placeholders". The angels are basically just waiting for the demons to do the hard and dirt work while, they think, they just have to manipulate low ranking angels and get Dean's consent. Precisely the two things that fuck them in the end because Castiel rebels and Dean doesn't consent.

The other thing about Azazel's deal is that he doesn't need permission to enter Mary's house, that's just an excuse because of the "red tape". He has to bend the rules of the natural order and, in order to do so, he needs to make a deal. His deals are basically asking people to sign and date a blank sheet which is, obvs, a super manipulation, but, because people accept that, the deals "respect" the rules. It's absolutely unfair considering that this seems to apply only to humans while angels bend even the rules of time as they please with no consequences (well... actually, "what goes around comes around" and they will almost all be wiped out, lol).

The tragedy in the tragedy of the tragedy is that Dean understands that's about the souls. "In the beginning" makes a point of telling us that's not about that but I don't think it's true. Yes, Azazel won't come knocking in ten years with his hellhounds but he's bargaining a soul for a soul. Liddy's husband, if Azazel had managed to deal, wouldn't have died; Charlie's father would have lived; John would have died etc. So, in this episode at least because I don't remember the parents of the other special children tbh, Azazel is exchanging the life or death of 1 parent with the future of 1 of their children. At the end of the day, this is what the deal is about: it's a 1 for 1. This is also why he can't resurrect Mary's parents. Well, because he doesn't care, obviously, but because he doesn't have to: John's resurrection for Sam's future (which Mary has no idea about and neither does Azazel, he's also signing a blank sheet).

And this is so interesting because demons must follow the rules but angels don't because they are SO certain that they will end Time. They think they will put an end to everything and finally have their "paradise". When it doesn't come to pass, when the end doesn't arrive as promised, everybody has to face the consequences of their actions.

[marinettesaltprompts]

So, an expansion of sorts on my first Maribat prompt: this time ending with an estranged Adrien giving Marinette some hard truths about her situation and why her life in Gotham didn’t turn out to be the dream she expected.

*

Maribat, but without the wish-fulfilment:

The Bat-family comes to Gotham, and as per usual they more or less instantly discover who Shadowmoth is. Along the way, Marinette falls for one of the Robins (probably 'Damien') and immediately decides that she's done with the ungrateful Paris, her class, the 'spineless' Adrien and most of all- that awful, insufferable "Chat Noir".

It took only a week to defeat Gabriel Agreste, and less than that to make her choice: she was going to Gotham. To work with real superheroes where she'd be appreciated- and where the Miraculous could be put to good use. Officially she's going overseas on a fashion scholarship- and to her surprise her 'friends' all come out of the woodwork to support her, even Adrien comes to see her in private to congratulate her. He looks a little worse for wear now what with the public hate from his father's association and he might have to move himself soon, but he comes to her nonetheless.

She rips into every one of them. She tears down each of them, pointing out their failures as friends and people, how they failed to support her in their time of need. How she never needed them, but she'd worked tirelessly for them anyway. But she reserves her bile for Adrien most of all:

"I can't believe I ever loved you."

And then she leaves.

Not Paris though, not yet, there's one last stop she has to make. Under the light of the moon, she makes her last meeting with Chat Noir and formally denounces him before her new peers, stripping him of the ring.

But that's not enough for her.

She looks into Adrien's eyes and formally declares that he has no right to a Miraculous or what secrets that he does know, and uses her power and authority as Guardian to permanently sever his ability to ever use a Miraculous again. He's shocked, but seeing her cold intent- he resigns himself. He knows better than to argue with that face. He only asks to say goodbye to Plagg.

Ladybug generously agrees, but to Adrien's obvious disappointment, Plagg doesn't seem that interested in talking much with former holder. Apparently Damian has better cheese, and obviously Plagg has had experience in moving on from 'bad holders'.

Clearly the reality that he was just a placeholder Plagg placated until his real holder arrived is setting in.

After a few awkward words between ex 'hero' and kwami. Adrien looks visibly dizzy and trails off. The rite has already taken effect. He can't see, hear or feel Plagg anymore- he falls silent, and Ladybug leaves with the Miraculous Box.

His memories of the Kwami, and anything else related to him being Chat Noir have vanished by the morning.

Meanwhile Marinette has arrived in Paris, and finds herself welcomed into the Bat-Family.

At first, things go well.

Her team is capable and competent, she pairs the Miraculous well to their new holders- Damian makes SUCH a great Black Cat she wonders how she ever dealt with that useless Agreste (no wonder it took so long to beat Gabriel, clearly she needed a TRUE Black Cat- not some selfish rich boy who pretended to be kind!)

Until she comes across her first crime scene, and she has to deal with human cruelty in a way the deranged by ludicrous Akumas never forced her to in Paris.

Until she has to undergo training with Bruce- training without her Miraculous, since no Bat-Family Member would ever be caught helpless if they lost their main tool. And she discovers that a clumsy girl without powers doesn't make for a quick student in martial arts. And it's clear this will be just the start, as she's got a long way to go before she's a proper detective either- Ladybug luck or not.

Until she tries to give orders to her Black Cat and holders, and finds herself not only ignored- but taken back to the cave to have a discussion about seniority and experience in the field that leaves her under no illusion about where she ranks. 'Guardian' or not.

Until she realises that between all her new responsibilities and training, maintaining a fashion hobby or working for a career in it is just as difficult as it was when she in Paris leading the efforts against Shadowmoth.

Until Damian makes it clear that he's not interested in her romantically, and that at best they have a professional relationship. He's not the sort of boy who just falls in love at first glance, and the Ladybug and Black Cat holders aren't destined to be more than partners to balance one another.

Until the shine wears off, and she starts missing her home. Her language and even her friends.

It's not what she expected. And doesn't even think she can leave, she HAS to take care of the Miraculous she's given out and the Miracle Box, and honestly? She doesn't think she can take the Black Cat from Damian if she tried, and Damian clearly has no intention of giving up the power that he was destined to wield. So she has to stay.

And stay she does. It's not a bad life, but it's not the one she wanted.

It's two years before she sees Paris again.

It's a joint mission, and Ladybug is delighted to be back in her home city once more. It's work, but she gets some time to just be in her old home for a time.

Mesmeriser had made the entire country lose their memories, but as per usual once he was gone The Miraculous Cure takes care of everything. For a moment Marinette almost leaves, but a possibility occurs to her- and she hangs around for just a little while longer.

But even with their memories restored things aren't the same as she remembered.

She sees how Paris has moved on from her. Some people seem to resent her for ‘abandoning her city’, most of her friends have moved elsewhere but are doing okay now. Her family is happy for her, and they ask about her fashion studies- but Marinette can only laugh it off because she’s been too busy training to even about stitching or a long time.

It’s not what she expected from the times she imagined coming come.

And there’s something else.

She doesn't even know why she wants to speak to him, but she rationalizes it as wanting to make sure that he hasn't remembered anything. Her detective training allows her to find Adrien's new home easily enough.

It's cheap, a bit rundown. Just a small house in the countryside, not bad for a teenager but a far cry from Agreste Manor.

From the creeping grass on the road, it doesn't look like many people visit. Not that it stops her from spying a few well-hidden cameras pointing at her.

It's no surprise that when the door opens, Adrien just stares at her coldly. After all, Hawkmoth's son likely wouldn't want anything to do with Ladybug.

But what comes out of his mouth is:

"Come on, let's get this over with." He's quick and to the point.

Ladybug blinks, taken aback.

His glare never wavers, "you’re late.”

Looks like he was expecting her. He turns around and simply walks into the house, leaving the door open for her to follow him in. Taken aback by his curt attitude, she carefully does so while taking in the details of her surroundings.

The home is sparsely furnished. Mostly cheap and simple furniture without much sign of personal touches. The main room had a single armchair in front of a desktop set on a table.

There wasno place for a visitor to sit so she remained standing as Adrien pointedly settled into the Armchair and closed his eyes.

…

“Are you waiting for something?” Somehow, despite being objectively, completely helpless in the situation, unpowered and about to have his mind rewritten; Adrien sounded almost bored. Almost like his father would have inspecting some sub-par offering for his label.

“You have your memories again.”

“Not for long.” Slits of irritated green appeared as his eyes drew open for a moment. “Don’t you have places to be?”

Something about his attitude rubbed her wrongly. Logically, she should just go through the ritual and be done with it just like he said. But some part of her felt… unsatisfied.

Ever since she’d left Paris, she’d turned over that night when she’d ended their partnership over in her mind a thousand times. There were so many things she'd wanted to say, anger and hurt still welling up from within her about what Chat Noir had owed her as a partner, what Adrien had owed her as a friend. In her imaginings the scenes had gone dozens of different ways. Sometimes Adrien aged. Often he cried like a spoilt little boy finally getting punished. Other times he tried to defend himself or beg for forgiveness. In most of them he wanted a second chance.

But always, always Ladybug was the one in control.

But here, now when that imagined confrontation had somehow came to pass… Adrien was still utterly at her mercy. But he was treating her like she was some kind of unwanted guest.

“Is that all you have to say?” Her first words came out sharply. “After everything, that’s what you’re going with?”

Adrien stared at her, and a hint of bitter bemusement finally crept into his features “what else is there to say? This only ends one way- but fine….” suddenly he shifted gears and in an instant body language transformed. The once-familiar model smile she’d once been infatuated with slid into place and he beamed up at her; “oh of course! Where are my manners, do you want a coffee? Tea? I know it’s a long trip back to Gotham”

The smile faded. “Everything you ever wanted is over there so don’t stay here too long.”

“Everything?” Ladybug tasted the word.

Everything she’d ever wanted had been in Paris, until her class turned on her. Until her Partner failed her.

“Your wonderful life with The Batman and… whatever Robin calls himself now.”Adrien offered, like he was a teacher reminding her of a test. “Sounds like a lot of fun, very glamorous. Not something you’d want to stay away from- the door automatically shuts and locks, so don’t feel like you need to stay after-”

“A lot of fun!?” ladybug snorted. “Oh that- that’s just YOU.” She snidely snickered. “That’s Chat Noir. Always treating the Miraculous world like it’s some kind of game, but it never was Adrien. That’s what YOU never understood- and never will.”

She felt validated. Digging into the manchild after the slipup in his mask, so much that she couldn’t help but indulge in a low blow. “That’s why you’re not Chat Noir anymore.”

A twitch went across Adrien’s face, and a mix of satisfaction- at breaking through his mask again, and a little guilt went through her.

But what came next surprised her.

“Try me.”

“What?”

“You say that I’ll never understand.” The mask was back on. “Why don’t you actually try explaining things for once and see what I ‘understand’.”

It was ludicrous. She owed him nothing. Adrien wouldn’t even remember this anyway.

But those eyes held a challenge in them, and if he wouldn’t even remember…

What was the loss in finally getting Chat Noir to understand- even for a second- what responsibilities meant. About how hard it was to be Ladybug, nevermind the Guardian.

So she vented. For the first time in years, she had someone unconnected to the Bats to vent at and she took full advantage.

The sacrifices she had to make to be Ladybug and The Guardian.

The horrors she faced on a daily basis from having to live as a hero in Gotham.

The disrespect she endured, despite being the rightful commander of anyone bearing a Miraculous from her box. Having to cajole and convince her team to follow her plans.

The disappointment in it all and how far it was from being the “comic book” story Adrien seemed to think being a superhero was.

“...it’s not a game Adrien. It’s a burden I live with.” She grit her teeth. “And it’s not easy, sure as hell not fair. But I still do it day by day. Not because “it’s fun”, but because it’s my duty to care for the Miraculous and my responsibility that their powers are used for the greater good!”

She paused to breathe, exhausted from her ranting.

“Oh...”

She heard a snicker, and paused in shock. “Excuse me?”

“Oh… this is just…” Adrien’s mask crumbled and he pressed a hand to his mouth. “This is perfect.” His once-cold eye glimmered with glee.

“What’s ‘perfect” Adrien?” She scowled. “Did you seriously hear anything I just said-”

“Oh I did. That’s what’s perfect.” Adrien dropped his hand and revealed a satisfied smile, something with an edge closer to Felix’s smirk than anything she’d have ever expected from him. “You’re a sidekick.”

Ladybug found herself taken aback, “wha-”

“Not even Batman’s sidekick. You’re Robin’s sidekick! You left us, left me like you were going to be their equal and you’re the ME of the team- oh this is *hysterical!*”

An undignified snort came from the boy and genuinely peals of laughter erupted from his body, and for a second he seemed to resemble the Adrien from her memories once more. But the moment passed and the edged smile returned as the humour petered into something else; “and you don’t even know why do you?

You honestly think it’s unfair that you’re at the bottom of the team!” The mask suddenly slipped back on and like a switch the good humour was gone. “And why would you be?”

She glared at him, “I seem to remember *beating Shadowmoth* every other day for years-”

“Then you’re remembering *wrong*.” Adrien curtly cut her off. “You beat disposable footsolidiers every other day. Shadowmoth *never* lost until the Bats came to Paris- at most we *stalemated* him. All we did was keep the status quo.

*I* thought you and Fu were working towards something. But the whole time, you weren’t doing anything to find him were you?” His eyes bored into her. “There was no reason we couldn’t still be fighting him *now* if the Bats hadn’t come along…

But they did.” The smile returned. “And *they* beat Shadowmoth. Not *you*. They came here and in what, week? They put together Gabriel Agretse’s identity and solved the problem like it was nothing to them.

Because *it was nothing* to them. The problem you, Fu and Su all couldn’t even come close to solving even with the Miracle Box’s powers on hand. Why *would* they respect you as an equal- when you’re nowhere close to their level?”

“I… I did my best!” Ladybug spluttered. “I was fourteen and all I had was Fu’s notes-”

“I was young too, and I didn’t even get to know that Fu had notes.” Adrien rolled his eyes. “Or get any help with being a hero from *either* of my Guardians-

“I had to *be* the Guardian-”

“Because your screwup forced Fu to destroy his own mind.” Adrien’s words were like daggers to her heart, any trace of warmth evaporating from his face in an instant. “Let’s make this clear ‘My Lady’. Now that we’re past playing nice about each other’s feelings- it *was* your fault and we both knew it.

You cost him his memories and you *failed upwards* into taking his place.” He leaned back in his chair, expression sombre, “do the Bats even know that’s how you became Guardian?”

“…”

“Thought not,” Adrien stared past her for a moment, “I know I never told Su-Han either… so unless you forgot to wipe Gabriel’s mind you don’t have to live with that screwup on your record.” His smile returned for a moment. “At least once we get this over with.”

His eyes locked on hers. “Is there anything else Ladybug?”

…

“Then we’re done here.” His expression faded into nonchalant acceptance. “Do your spell and *leave*.”

I like the update you did with this post! It feels like a more proper conclusion to the original prompt that does more to add in Adrien's perspective on it all. Thank you for sharing this! Also bit of a PSA here, but if anyone else wants to share a prompt, please do so via post submissions rather than by sending it through the inbox. I am more than happy that people are sending in their prompts, but having to reply to each inbox message does take time. Please save inbox messages for QA questions or prompt requests - I may do the latter in the future!

[bloggingboutburgers]

First of, I'm a big fan of your work. I love your comics and art and was happy to hear about the engagement 😁

As for my question, I love writing stories and creating OCs/characters. In your recent comic you called out that the only ace/aro rep always seems to be "the creator said so on Twitter" (a problem with a lot of rep. in media).

So I was curious, if I wanted to create an aroace character (and write a story with them), how could I naturally show them being aroace? Do you perhaps have any idea?

Thank you so much for the kind words!^^

Arguably my complaints are ironic because I myself haven't done proper aroace rep in my own fiction thus far – though I guess I'm compensating for that with my current comics, haha 🙈 But also, I've said it before and I'll say it again cus I'm annoying like that – Bojack Horseman did it, in my opinion, so that gives the rest of the media less excuses I guess.

So, again these are my personal views, and they're possibly demanding, but this would be my checklist for ideal aroace rep:

The aro/ace character needs to... BE a character. Actually have arcs, that matter within the story. Whether they're about being asexual or not doesn't really matter as long as THEY matter as a character.

...Ngl I feel they need to matter BEFORE they're revealed as aro/ace too, and obviously after. If they don't, they'll just feel like a placeholder who's just there to tick a box to me.

The fact that they're aro/ace needs to be addressed and not pushed under the rug or left up to interpretation. Leaving things up to interpretation will have so many people interpret them as allo for sure (just like in real life). And conversely, saying they're aro/ace may spark some curious questions and possibly awkward conversations (just like in real life). (...Again tbh Bojack Horseman was great at doing it naturally. The confusion from the ace character themself, the ace character's friend assuming they're gay because yeah that always happens, the MC having a friendly yet clueless "haha you're lucky that'd save me so many problems if I didn't have sexual attraction"... I could go on.)

By that I also mean... Actually NAMING the orientation at some point. If it's not named people who consume the media and don't know such an orientation exists will be none the wiser. (I'm guilty of that myself tbh. In one of my webcomics I had an alloaro character but never had the orientation mentioned within the story, I left it at showing he has sex and him having a conversation with his family explaining he doesn't have a favorite person because he just can't, but I feel like that's not enough, and I've been feeling a bit bad about it.) A good way of bringing that up fairly naturally would be to have the character figure out their orientation within the story, as a way to have the audience learn alongside them; but it could also be played for drama, which I don't think I've ever seen and would like to dabble with myself at some point – like, imagine you have a friend you hold dear who's key to your personal development and suddenly you find out they see you as sex / romance prospects and not as a friend like YOU do? That'd be crushing but that could definitely make for a good conflict. I should try writing that. I'm rambling anyway. Bleh.

Another thing that, to me, is key to the aro/ace experience is that the character may have some moments of questioning their place in the world. Our world is obsessed with sex and romance and fiction exacerbates that to the point where some characters barely even exist if they don't have romance. This could range from "Do I NEED to even identify myself as something" (again, Bojack Horseman did that great) to "Friendship is the most important relationship to me but not to my friends, what if they all abandon me once they find the one person they consider 'more important'". I dunno. I feel like there could be some interesting storylines there. I definitely would love to dabble into that myself a bit more, though I lack the time and talent – those concepts and the lack of things that are done with it live in my head rent-free.

...Actually I feel it could be good to show aro/ace characters as full of heart (if it fits their personality), having their own feelings and emotions outside of the usual romance spectrum, to show that they're just as human and compelling as the other characters. (...AGAIN Bojack Horseman did that great imo, I feel bad that I'm only ever quoting that show but that's still the best example I can ever think of.) Like – betrayal, loneliness, grief, kinship, literally ANY other form of love than romantic love... We feel all of those too (aside from people who don't experience any form of attraction at all, in fairness), and those deserve to be addressed in stories just as much (if not more) than the pining or simping that's kinda everywhere.

Oh yeah and speaking of being human... Yeah, human. We need more human aro/ace characters. Making it so that only the aliens/gods/demons/robots/whatever are ever allowed to be aro/ace only serves to dehumanize these orientations.

...IIIII think that's it. I might be forgetting some things I'd wanna add on later but I think that covers everything that would make for ideal rep in my own opinion

[britt-kageryuu]

An unusual amount of people are watching Donnie doing some programming. He had explained that he was challenged to make a game within a relatively short time frame, but hadn't explained what the game was supposed to be about yet.

His model is seated at a desk, and only seen from the torso up. Wearing a very comfy looking purple hoodie with a few pride pins, Nonbinary, Ace, and Progressive Flage, his mask, and his goggles/headphones.

"Okay, so I know what I'm planning for this game is way more than it needs to be, and I don't have a good chunk of the 'story' figured out. But I had a burst of inspiration for the game. I just need to make it actually make sense, even in this very obviously fictional setting." Donnie explains as he continues to switch between the programming screen, and a section of the environment filled with lots of random notes of what the area might be for.

The chat is tossing around their speculations of what the game is about. Especially since one of the Notes says "Need to finish mock up model, and check for potential copyright issues."

Donnie is now very focused on part of the program that has a tag saying it's for a enemy AI, and a reminder to not go to far. "Before anyone asks about these notes and tags. I need to remind you that Shelldon started as an AI assistant that could control some devices like the Roomba through bluetooth, and look at him now! My handsome robot Son who is very very very smart." He continues to gush about Shelldon and River for a few minutes, "I almost forgot my point, SHELLDON had a glitch early on that caused him to stop listening to anyone, and almost lead a Roomba army out onto the world... He was fixed very quickly, and I only had to deal with him acting like a teenager for a few weeks as a side effect."

As he talked he opened a file titled 'VT Game Assets WIP', there were multiple files each labeled like 'coffee shop', 'studio AB', 'stage 1-5' and looked through a few different 'enemies' folders to figure which one he should use in the environment labeled 'New Start Entertainment'.

"Though really the only reason I'm getting through this as quickly as I am, is because we have a huge library of random props, outfits, and of course environments. All made by Mandarin and I for no real reason other than 'just incase'." Donnie takes a moment to stretch after sitting still for like 3-4 hours. "This game as a whole would probably be judged for how quickly it's coming together and assuming it's not worth their time."

He then pulls up the fighting system- a plain mannequin fighting what could be described as a feral possessed plush toy. Once again catching some more attention and sparking some more debates in what the game was about if it needed a combat system to continue.

"Well that seems to be working properly for now, we just need to adjust for the other parts of the main setting. And actually finish the protagonist and other characters models so I don't just have a mannequin placeholders. It looks too much like we're copying that one cartoon that's getting big."

Donnie gets hyper focused on the programming and ignores chat and donations for the next hour. With the occasional muttering about what needs to changed, or they need to redo some of the textures and art assets because they aren't lining up properly.

Chat somehow never figure out what the game was about, and still continued to cheer Donnie on for working on the game.

-----------------

Masterpost Part 2