#tbh i think this is more complicated cause this is one of the few times that i feel like a show is actually trying

[yourbitchystudentartist]

I have many thoughts on the second half of season 2 of invincible. But the main one is, that clearly the writers tried to consciously make sure that Amber and Mark's breakup make sense so she wasn't a disposable black girlfriend, but they sort of failed. Because it doesn't really matter how well written the act of disposing her (in the narrative) is if, at the end of the day they never entertained letting a black woman be the main love interest in the first place. The act of disposing the Black woman is still happening.

Like I do love the character of Amber, and I love that she's black, but not if it continues this trend. Especially cause, now I think, what's the purpose of racebending so many other characters, like Amber and Rex, and even our main guy Mark, but nor the main love interest, Eve? Why are we holding on to Eve's whiteness above all else when actually making her black would be a huge reversal of a super common trope? Why does the main love interest have to be White when no one else has to be?

[signanothername]

Can we get a timeline of your comics? If you have a timeline- then is there a link somewhere?

Uuh tbh I never made a linear timeline? I’m genuinely bad at linear storytelling, that’s why I prefer to make comics based on whichever suits my fancy regardless of whether it’s in the past or future

It’s also a bit complicated with the idea of portraying different killers shzhzhhd

I have made a little timeline here talking about the ages, and when MTT were recruited, but it’s just that one quick timeline chhchc

But I can try to order them for you? And at least mention for some of them where they are timeline wise

Ok so order will be from past - present- future, and I’ll try to note anything of interest

Not all comics will be included, since some of them are made either for fun, or they aren’t necessarily part of the timeline, just a silly what if side comic, etc

I did try to include all comics of interest, including those that were ask oriented, if there’s a comic you have in mind that I haven’t included in the timeline feel free to ask about it, cause I could’ve easily missed something (I made so many comics my lord dbdbbxbxb)

With all that out of the way let’s go

———

A promised kiss - this comic happens right after the apple incident, when all villagers are dead, the village burned to the ground, and Dream’s in stone, Nightmare is still in the high of his madness

Stone grave - happend only once, around the last day of the 499th year only a few hours before Dream’s release, Dream is released exactly on the 500th year when the clock hits 12am after

Linguists… - this happens a few weeks after the first Killer’s recruitment, no one is in the castle but him and Nightmare at that point, Killer 1 hasn’t been subjected to Nightmare’s conditioning yet.. explicitly at least (this Killer doesn’t survive, he’s killed before anyone else is recruited)

Unfeeling machine - a few months in after Killer 2’s recruitment, no one but him and Nightmare in the castle, Killer is at the beginning of his conditioning, still hasn’t been fully conditioned (this version of Killer is also killed before anyone else is recruited)

Watched… - a regular occurrence, but this specifically happens before Murder’s recruitment by a short while, only Killer 3 and Nightmare are at the castle, Killer 3 is highly conditioned but yet not conditioned fully

Get humbled Nightmare - takes place before Murder’s recruitment by a short while, Killer 3 is highly conditioned at this point

A never ending game - happens before Murder’s recruitment by a short while, Killer 3 is highly conditioned

Apple pins - happens before Murder’s recruitment by a few weeks, so it’s still only Killer 3 and Nightmare in the castle at this time, Killer is highly conditioned

illusion of choice - happens a few months after Murder’s recruitment, Horror hasn’t yet been recruited, Killer 3 is fully conditioned

Erased and forgotten - happens after Color’s release from the void by a few months, Color starts his passion for photography after, for reference, Color breaks out of the void somewhere around the same time Murder gets recruited, he hasn’t yet met killer

Trauma - happened once, somewhere after a while of Murder’s recruitment, but before Horror’s recruitment

“Handson experience” - this happens somewhere after Horror’s recruitment, Horror hasn’t been recruited for long in here, hence, his inability to tell Nightmare’s mood and how he shows it, think after his recruitment by a few months

One brain cell - happens after Horror’s recruitment by a few years (-5 years), Horror has yet to get accustomed to Killer 3’s behavior while Murder is more knowledgeable of Killer 3’s attitude and masks

Will he ever truly escape? - happens with Killer 3 who’s saved, Nightmare’s showing Killer 4 to him

Choice - Killer 3 has already been saved here, he hasn’t survived Nightmare

Brink of death - happens after Killer 4 has been recruited, Dream has grown a bit more mature and a bit wiser to Nightmare’s emotional manipulation

999 apples - happens after Dream’s grown wise to Nightmare’s manipulation, when he finally has enough resolve to actually aim to kill, first time Dream takes a killing shot

Final request - happens somewhere in the middle of the timeline,, all MTT’s have been recruited for a while

Thanatophobia - also happens somewhere in the middle of the timeline, after all MTT’s recruitment for a while

You’re as beautiful as the day I lost you - happens with Killer 4 who Color saved for only a short while

It’s even more foolish for you to trust yourself - this shows killer 4, Killer 4 is only shortly killed after his escape

Emotional suppression - Killer 5, happens a few months after Killer 5 met Color for the first time (Killer 5 is the Killer that actually survives Nightmare)

Dearest, who hurt you? - happens in the middle of the timeline, Killer 5 is newly recruited, Horror and Murder all have been recruited for awhile

Pets - shows Killer 5, happens in the middle of the timeline, Horror is now knowledgeable of Killer’s behavior in general

Keeping the kitties safe - happens after Killer 5’s first kitten was almost killed by Nightmare, think somewhere in the middle of the timeline, where Killer 5 has known Color for a good few years at that point and their friendship a bit more stable where there’s mutual trust

Soul capture (part 1) - happens regularly, but this specifically takes place in the middle of the timeline, where MTT had been recruited for a while, and after Killer 5 and Color have already gotten attached

Soul capture (part 2) - takes place a few weeks after part 1 of soul capture

All's fair in love and war - happens within the middle of the timeline, MTT are all recruited and Killer 5 has met Color at this point

Nonexistent mercy - happens somewhere in the middle of the timeline, where Killer 5 had spent enough time around Color to truly be attached to him to

Killer vs Dream - happens a few weeks after “Nonexistent mercy”

A will of steel - takes place within the middle of the timeline, Murder tries talking to Nightmare only once

Ultimatum (part 1) - middle of the timeline

Ultimatum (part 2) - happens right after Ultimatum 1 within the same day

A secret unfolded - happens after Ultimatum by a few weeks

I love you (Part 1), I love you (Part 2) - happens actually very later in the timeline, when Dream realizes that during their fights, Dream hasn’t told Nightmare how much he loves him enough, too preoccupied with everything to notice how far they’ve truly been driven apart

Letting off steam - takes place somewhere down the line, Killer 5 is planning his escape with Color at this point

Read like an open book - happens after Color saves Killer 5

Worth it - happens after Killer 5’s saved by a few months, Killer 5 is still fully conditioned, and him and Color are still facing so much difficulty in their relationship, Killer 5 is fully attached to Color at this point

Delta vs Killer - happens a few months after Killer 5’s saved

Numb - happens a few months after Killer 5’s saved

Besties? - happens after Killer 5’s saved, Ink and him developing their own version of friendship

A beautifully haunting smile - happens semi-regularly where Killer 5 would associate Color’s looks with Nightmare, mostly happens after he’s saved by only a few years (-5 years), later down the line those associations break little by little

Not human nor monster - happens after killer 5’s been saved for a few years (-5 years)

One rule (part 1) - happens a few years after Killer 5’s escape (think -5 years)

The end is never (part 2 of one rule) - happens a few days right after “one rule”

Guilt trip town - happens a few years after Killer 5’s saved (-5 years)

Cross soul - happens a few weeks after meeting Cross for the first time after Killer 5’s saved (-5 years)

On the topic of kindness - this comic happens years after Killer 5’s saved, enough years have passed for Killer to have learned a bit more of a healthy way of life (think +5 years after Killer’s escape)

Subconscious protectiveness - happens within the same setting/time as “on the topic of kindness”, think of it as a silly extension of it

Your own worst enemy - this comic happens a few months after “on the topic of kindness”, Nightmare is facing a few different mental and emotional difficulties, Horror has escaped, Murder was Killed, Nightmare’s back to being all alone in his castle

Similarities - happens a few months after “your own worst enemy”

Familiarity - happens only a few weeks after “your own worst enemy”, Killer 5 and Nightmare tend to meet a bit too often for a while

Strike one - happens after Killer 5’s saved for a while, think +5 years

Hierarchy - happens after “Strike one” by a few months

Engrossed yet blocked out love - happens while Nightmare’s alone again in his castle, MTT haven’t been there for +5 years, and Nightmare is still facing difficulties

Capturing moments - happens 7+ years after Killer 5’s saved

A Little life update - happens later down the line, Killer 5 hasn’t seen Nightmare for a while, and has developed a lot more of a healthy relationship with life and himself

Molded - Killer 5 meets Nightmare again in unusual circumstances, Killer 5 is over halfway through his healing journey, his conditioning has a lot less effect on him than it used to, back to only being half conditioned

Apathetic - happens many years after Killer 5’s escape (think +10 years)

There’s nothing to fix - happens way later in the timeline, Dream is desperate to convince Nightmare to stop spreading negativity, MTT long gone by this point, Nightmare is still all alone in his castle

Taunting - happens way later down the line, Nightmare is still all alone in his castle, this shows killer 5

Nightmare and a kitty - happens way later in the timeline, Nightmare is still all alone in his castle, Nightmare find his fascination with cats as a coping mechanism, and as a sort of fucked up association with Killer 5

———

Side comics of interest:

Below is a list of comics that do happen in the timeline, but are not necessarily significant one time events but rather something that happens regularly within the timeline, so it could take place really anywhere in the timeline from present to future

Error vs Killer - happens a few times, when Error’s a bit in a trigger happy mood

Eating problems - simply to show their food issues, it’s a regular occurrence

Constant menace - happens regularly within Ink and Error as they deal with their own shenanigans

Crocodile tears - happens regularly where Nightmare manipulates Dream’s emotions, this is just to show one of the ways Nightmare uses for his manipulation tactics

Strangers - happens sometimes where the twins meet by coincidence when they’re not exactly fighting, they usually just move on without a single word

Make it hurt - something to show Nightmare’s relationship with other characters, happens somewhere in the middle of the timeline after all MTT already has been recruited

A frightened child - happens regularly in their fights, another way to show Nightmare’s manipulation of Dream’s emotions

Manipulation - happens regularly

Dissonance - happens semi-regularly, this shows Killer 5

Reaching for what’s missing - happens regularly

[iridescentdove]

can you do a continuation of full power Lumine with Fyodor, Sigma, and Ranpo. I feel like Fyodor would interested because of how complicated she is and how he would have a hard time understanding something for the for the first time I’m assuming. Same goes for Ranpo. I think he would be exiting too because the traveler is always willing to help and his type is someone that spoils him. For Sigma I feel like he would understand her in a way because he is a supernatural being that came into existence under interesting circumstances. And he would have someone to help him because we all know how the Decay Of Angels is I would also feel unsafe 24/7 😭

feel free to take your time if you have a lot of requests! (this was longer than I anticipated)

Fyodor, Sigma & Ranpo x Lumine! Reader

Hi! ♡ I'm quickly zooming through requests to make up for the time lost in my absence lol. Lumine is skeptical but shares the same curiosity her twin has for everything, she's rational and courageous, along with being generous and helpful towards others that need assistance. And most especially, rather beautiful and somewhat quiet, yet considered rather expressive.

As if a primordial being – Lumine holds power able to destroy worlds and travel through them with ease, and yet, most of it having been sealed away by the Unknown God's own bidding. What happens when she regains her full power and travels through the world of BSD?

Soukoku, Jouno & Atsushi Ver.

FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY:

You're a strange new specimen, and he actually finds interest in you. Plus – Fyodor actually likes pretty people, so seeing you for the first time is actually surprising.

Who knew someone so beautiful in this world existed 🗿

But honestly, although this man can read you like book if he wanted to, that's not happening.

You're rather complicated. Like no fr. You're pretty and small as hell, but you're so fucking strong hello? And you're not very talkative yet so expressionable it's alluring

He has no idea what to think, but all he knows is that he wants to keep you around.

The fact you're helpful draws him to you more. He learns to trust you overtime, and you have no ulterior motives when you go warm him up and make him feel comfortable.

Whenever he needs help or basically just you spoiling him and comforting from his anemia, that's cloud 9 ok idfc

He's starting to really ... really like you and I don't

You're basically everything he'd want tbh. Since you're from a different world, his ability probably don't work on you.

And just be glad it doesn't honestly. You're like God level strong and rather smart yourself, so he isn't bored and actually finds you worthy of being with him.

Well even if you weren't, you'd be an interesting playtoy on it's own. Please let me punch him already.

He'll have you run errands and do different things to go according to his plans, but he doesn't tire you out or anything because he still pretty much cares.

BRO this guy reminds me of the Fatui idk 💀

Dude is fuckin unhinged, commits warcrimes, hot and is very strong. You can't tell me he's literally the emobidiment of the harbingers in an alternate world lmfao

Even though he's a red flag you don't really care 'cause you can kill him whenever you want. Slayyy girlboss.

One of the rare times he'd take his ushanka off, and put it on your head because you're just too adorable to resist. The innocent, curious look on your face afterwards sends him.

You're a cute, complicated being he's just addicted to.

He's rather amused himself – so whenever you're like beating up Dazai or something (much to his satisfaction), he's watching in the back with his popcorn or sumn.

Probably smirking the entire time. He loves you more now

Imagine Dazai being Childe and that weekly boss you always fucking destroy every week? Peak comedy.

He probably won't even bother trying to fight against you, man knows his place so he gets humbled. But that probably won't stop him from testing you a few times.

He'll purposely get you in a tricky situation so he can observe more of you, and you'll never fail to surpass his expectations every time.

P.S. expect yourself to beat up Nikolai often. His orders lol

Rat king's actually found his match <3 fuck you

RANPO EDOGAWA:

You probably crash landed in the agency or smth. How would I know that?

I'm the writer, bitch /hjq

Now let's say both of you were just acquaintances at first, you'd help around the agency a lot though. And that also includes him.

So here we are! At this point, you're basically just spoiling him from all the help that you give.

He doesn't even mind he fucking loves it I bet

Other than Atsushi, he now drags you with him to go and buy candy, or just makes you go out and do it yourself. Either way the candy is bought so 🤷🏻

Dw babe he shares it with you <3

Must I say you're pretty once more? It's not even annoying bro I am SPEAKING FACTS stan lumine

Ranpo is very interested in you and your specie, if he ever got bored he'd probably take breaks away from doing some cases and listens to your talking.

Will get extremely invested in the world of Teyvat, learning more about it.

DON'T TELL HIM ABOUT HEIZOU

"Hehe! Number one detective you say? Even more so than I am~? After all, I am the greatest detective in the world!"

We get it babe.

Like if you ever honestly tried to put them both together in Poe's book it is very obvious who will come out first. Bro will legit rub it in your face too, not even cap

Oh, speaking of which – he'd probably invite you into one of them too. It would be a fun hangout ... maybe.

You're the bodyguard that fucks up any murderer tryna get to him while he deals with the shit and puts his glasses on then DAMN BITCH we boutta go usain bolt on this shit.

It doesn't even take that long. You guys did it in a heartbeat.

Ranpo honestly adores you, that much you can tell. He likes mostly everything about you and finds you so entertaining.

Especially your expressions which are peak comedy.

Definitely the type to do something real smart and show off his skills so he could see your reaction.

And maybe even get a bit of praise. You know this guy loves it when you compliment him and agree with things that he says. That's already fulfilling his heart.

I'd say you'd help him out a lot honestly, the ADA is basically the adventurers guild 💀

You'd be relaxing and having a chill time until Ranpo or some other member comes up and tells you to fucking beat up Mori or something

Yeah. They entrust it all to your capable hands.

But of course, Ranpo wouldn't leave you alone with that. You both make great teamwork in all cases.

Right after each remotely easy to borderline difficult case, Ranpo will be a sweetheart and take you out somewhere nice to relax. His treat.

kisses in the ferris wheel pls

It's already easy enough to tell, but you can see all the affection in his eyes as the night comes to an end once more. More than that, even.

It's such a cute sight. But honestly, who could even say no to this guy? It's literally Ranpo.

SIGMA:

So here you've already been in the world of bsd for a while and you're just doing random bullshit the agency adventurers guild gives you.

Mersault arc timeskip. Dazai off sucking and teaming up with some Nakahara toes, Nikolai being a material gworl

Fyodor is mimicking Odasaku's ashes

And obviously you're here in the back forced to do everything yourself because shit goes down 🔥

You have a pretty good knowledge on yourself in this world you're stuck in again, and it's necessary to use that info to your disposal because wow, the situation is complicated.

Especially during this arc now, but it's less difficult when you're only focusing on the DOA.

We'll say you only be familiar with the different organizations because you often go around a lot and travel.

Then meet various people and ... fight over half of them 😐

By this time, you and Sigma have been well acquainted. Due to his ability, he managed to get info about you easily. And boy does he use that to advantage.

Asked begged you to help him out in the DOA.

Look man he's suffering, don't leave babygworl all alone with all these gay men who're too broke to afford proper therapy sessions

Don't worry Sigma, we're here for you <3

By now you had no idea what was happening, just getting random info from everyone around you

Moving place to place (teleport waypoints are real handy right about now), collecting random shit and beating up enemies along the way

Classic genshin ripoff moment :/

Although you don't actually do a lot of stuff for the DOA, it's mostly personal mishaps coming from Sigma. Because no we don't want to be a wanted terrorist tf

So you soon arrived at mersault and saw poor Sigma either dead or unconscious.

Bro is in need of tevyat fried eggs

Anyways, you of course could not LEAVE him out of your sight after that. The one time you thought it was okay to stay out of business ... that happened 🤡

Sigma was indeed alive, but at the same time it wasn't okay to leave him since he was barely clinging on.

By the time he awoke, he thought he saw heaven. He frantically sits up from bed.

Oh wait, it was just you <3

You brought him back to the sky casino, as he was resting at a safe distance away from the three psychopaths in jail

You guys do end up having to go back much to his dismay, although this time it felt more safer because you were around. He's down deep and he can't return.

Sigma really likes you. Not because you're helpful and quite beautiful, but strong and empathetic in a sense both of you relate to various things.

He's seriously lucky to have you, his little shooting star ❤️

[l0verf0rever]

𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐭?

Social Media! Au | Jude Bellingham x Reader

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

Current

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Anonymous: How the hell is it a marketing strategy if they have had the relationship longer than her modeling career . 🤦‍♀️

Anonymous: I'm sad to see a girl trying to change herself for a guy she's super sweet when I met her :(

↳ Anonymous: She's super kind too but it's just sad tbh

↳Anonymous : don't get me wrong I bet Y/n is a nice girl but why is jude looking like a villain to this situation? Isn't friends with benefits 2 thing?.

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June 30,

Right now its one of your stupid breaks with Him that last few weeks then He drunk dials he always wants to stop but you don't know

Is it even worth trying? "I miss the times when everything was normal before feelings complicated everything " having conversations with your sister

" pick someone who's decent not someone who's a dirt bag and just has every girl in he's finger tips "

it's been 1 week since he asked to stop for the time you've forgotten how many times you've gotten cool off trying impressing him it was just sad telling your friends and therapist they could tell you clearly love him but it's codependency

Nights where you lie awake, you block him, but then you feel bad and unblock you dream the day when he's sure he wants you

from trying to dress the way he likes high heels, trying to be everything he wants, or you think he wants . You just wish he could have a clear mind it's hurting you inside to know that

You just want to hate him but some reason you can't you've seen him in other relationships then block you out when it doesn't work he calls you

He's your only and first relationship. "You should try others guys if he's been with other girls and block you out block him too then," your friend says

"or you know stop this and be secure with being alone," your other friends suggested to you

July 1.

Everything felt like the end of the world. Everyone knew you and jude reading comments of people. Reading it makes you pity yourself, realizing it made it worse for months you didn't realize it nor think about it

"Be yourself and know that that's good enough Dont try to act like someone else, be yourself Be secure with yourself Rely and trust upon your own decisions" your friend reassures you that everything's gonna be fine

"They're are other people than him and when you're ready they'll appear don't rush it" you hated the fact you're a safety net for him the things you've done with him never thought you'd have to do with other people trying to accept that you have to move on and on to the next

Looking at pictures at night and crying cause he's spotted with another girl while you're in your room crying wondering why it got so messy to begin with you sometimes wish you never bothered to begin with.

Hi its me again I'm nervous about my work nowadays and I decided to make this new one I hope you guys appreciate it also should I make this a series?🤍 - Love mishaella

Hi updated the series is #Risque the story

[shhrrroooommmmmyyyyyy]

S1: The Birb's Feelings

(pt 1.5 for episode 7 and 2 for season 2 idk when cause shit's crazy rn)

Stolas is one of the most morally controversial characters in the show. With the show revolving around Blitz's relationships, it's natural that the show gives us the most information about him because he is arguably Blitz's most complicated relationship at the moment (I'm not going to include Barbie bc we've literally only seen her for like 5 minutes in one episode which isn't enough information). I wanted to do a quick overview of how I perceive Stolas's feelings throughout the duration of the show in sort of a timeline format

~Episodes 1, 2, 5~

So, at first, it's obvious Stolas doesn't really think of Blitz too romantically and mostly sexually. Ok, completely sexually. However, there's a reason why that people often overlook sometimes. Stella openly said in the season 2 premiere that the only time him and her had sex was to have Octavia. Man's literally been deprived of anything enjoyably sexual his whole life. So when he finally does have sex that's enjoyable for the first time, he naturally wants more of it

As we all know, Stolas isn't the most self aware king (or should I say prince) out there (which is okay; he's still growing and developing as a character). The way he treats Blitz in these first few episodes sort of gives off sex toy vibes. Obviously, this is where Blitz gets that mindset from, that all he is is just a toy for Stolas

But after seeing what Stolas' true personality is now, I highly doubt Stolas knew exactly how he was treating Blitz during this time. Again, self awareness issues. Natural part of his character that, after watching Viv's writing since the Hazbin pilot first released (yeah og right here), I'm positive will be developed on later in the show. So hold your horses people, we're just now 2 episodes away from only being halfway through with the show. Give it time, it'll happen

Anyways, Stolas isn't a bad person (I'll fight anyone over this take, dont play). But he does the wrong things with the right intentions. He treated Blitz the way he did in these first few episodes because Blitz was the first person he's ever enjoyed having sex with. It's a big deal to him as it sort of "awakened" him. I think he was so happy about the sex after around 35 years of nothing, he didn't fully realize how he was treating Blitz in the process

*Not an excuse, but simply a possible explanation for his actions*

~Episode 6~

My favorite episode. Stolas shows up when I.M.P.'s sort of cornered by the agents and scares them shitless with his scawy big birb form. First he makes sure Blitz is okay, then he scolds him for getting caught. Almost like a mother who's mad but cares for their well-being (crying in ghostfuckers)

This may seem small to you guys, but for me this was when Stolas became my favorite character. Not only did this moment show he's more than just the cringy comedic horny relief, it also showed that he cared. Why would he ask if Blitz is okay if he didn't care about him? That has nothing to do with the book. If it got in possession of humans he could literally just kill them in like a second and take it back. Tbh (dont come after me pls) but before this episode I didn't like my first impression of Stolas. Despite the many takes calling the cringiness of his lines in the first few episodes "iconic", I hated it. It was just too much

And in this scene it's not just that he's asking in general, it's how gentle he's being with Blitz. Holding his face and speaking a bit softer with a caring expression on his face. I love it so much (aggghghhghghgahhaagh). I know his attitude changes after a few seconds, but still it was a nice moment that reshaped my perspective on his character for basically the rest of the show

*Like I said before I'l give episode 7 it's own post cause i'm too tired and there's so much to talk abt in that episode*

[last-sprout]

Last Sprout Dev Diary - Jan 10, 2025

Hello, and welcome to the new year! After the break, I'm here for another dev diary - this one being a bit more about something conceptual. If you want to read the last dev diary from December, you can do so here.

If this is the first one you're reading, I'm @oneominousvalbatross, and I'm the tech side of the sprout team! This week I mostly worked on status effects, but I want to take some time to talk about a broader, more conceptual topic, and save the full breakdown for next week.

My poor boy, who has every disease.

Something I don't think I've really specified before in these dev diaries is my background in game dev, or, rather, my lack of background. I started seriously learning how to code a bit over a year ago, and entered my first game jam in February of 2024.

(The game was barely functional, but it did exist so like, there's something.)

My academic background is in philosophy (simultaneously the best and worst thing tbh), and apart from being pretty good with computers in a broad sense I didn't really have much to go on for this project. I'm bringing this up because I'm going to be talking about something that I had to figure out for myself, but that might be like, compsci 105 or something if you went through school for it. That said though, if you have always kind of wanted to make games, you can absolutely make games! I didn't think I was a math person, or a coding person, until I started doing it.

Game Development is Hard

I'm going to assume that software development in general is hard, but I haven't really done that, so I'm talking about game dev. I spent around two weeks not touching the game, and when I came back, the first thing I noticed was just how hard it was to get my head back around something with this many systems! This was also something I ran headlong into when working on that game jam, I reached a point in like, a week where I couldn't touch any system without potentially breaking every other system.

The solution I use, and the reason why I could come back to this without completely losing my mind, is to reduce the number of access points into a system to the absolute bare minimum. For example, we can look at the animation system. It's really complicated! It needs to be able to swap the sprites out on a variety of different renderers, it needs to be able to adjust animation speeds, control shader parameters, and it needs to be able to queue up multiple animations in sequence, plus it needs to send out events on animation end so that I can use them to time up other game actions.

If I was to condense all of this into a few sentences: A system can be as complicated as it needs to be, but try to envision it in its own little box, with precisely one entrance/exit. If you need to spawn a projectile, you should really just be able to go, like, SpawnProjectile(projectile), with as little external work as possible. This means if you need to completely rewrite how spawning projectiles works, you can do that, and all the other classes that spawn projectiles can still just do their thing.

A helpful diagram

The way I would've done this originally would have been to have, like, a SpriteAnimator class with a 'speed' field. I'd set it to one by default, and then whenever I need that speed to be different, I'd have whatever object needs to change the speed go in and set the speed to whatever. If you've done a lot of programming, you probably immediately realized the tons of problems this could cause - problems into which I ran headlong.

What do you do when you want one animation to play at a certain speed, then go back to the previous speed when it's done? If you do, do you assume that the speed was set to 1 before, and just reset it, or do you have one of the two objects involved store the previous speed to go back to it? If you do, what happens if, halfway through an animation, another object butts in to adjust the speed again? Say you're playing an animation at half speed, and then a speed buff gets applied that's supposed to last for a minute. Your speed buff goes in, sets the faster speed, the animation suddenly starts playing faster, then when the animation is finished, the object that was waiting to reset the speed goes back in and sets the speed to 1, leaving the animation playing at the default speed when it's supposed to be faster.

These kinds of problems will always be a risk, but in my specific case I split the speed at which an animation plays out into three places. First of all, an animation has a frame rate, which is meant to never change. We do most of our animating at 12 fps (on twos, I think is what you call it in the traditional animation world? idk, not a 2d animator), and each animation object keeps track of its frame delta (1 / frame rate) so that the controller can progress through the frames at the right speed.

However, we don't submit the animation to the controller in its unaltered form. Instead, we have a data structure called a PlayableAnimation. This contains the animation itself, but it also has the speed at which the animation should be played, as well as some other useful info that might change between two instances of the same animation. A controller maintains a stack of playable animations and can look at the individual speed of each one as it progresses through.

On top of that, there's a final speed modifier that can be submitted along with the playable animation, without changing its values. This way, if I want to play an animation at double speed for whatever reason, I don't necessarily have to set the value for the entire controller, I can just say this animation should be faster, and nothing else. Some animations have different frame rates, or are re-used with different speeds for different purposes, and I can do all that configuration without having to put all that weight on one field.

All of this sounds wildly complicated, and it kind of is, but importantly, if you're playing an animation from any other system, all you do is type in "Controller.PlayAnimation(animation)". You can also go like, "Controller.PlayAnimation(animation, speed: 1.5)" if you want it to play faster, but all of that stuff is handled completely without additional input. This is what lets me come back to the game and keep working on it when it's been months since I've touched a part of it.

Why This is Relevant Right Now

Status effects seem simple, but they kind of need to touch every other system at least a little bit, which is why I spent all that time talking about making systems. A status effect needs to be able to do things like apply damage, but it also needs to be able to play animations or sounds, and it doesn't always want to play those things on the source of the effect.

Some demos for the animations different status effects will use.

Plus, this is a roguelite, so we need to be able to add and modify status effect stuff within the upgrade system, which might mean modifying the magnitude of the effect, changing colors on animations, or tying other things into the effect when it goes off! As long as each of those systems has the cleanest possible entry/exit points, this is doable, but it's been a long battle making sure the game can keep moving forward and not get mired in constant bugfixing and complexity management.

I have a lot of cool game design thoughts on the effects themselves, but I think I'll leave that for a later week. As per usual, thanks for reading, feel free to send any questions or thoughts here or to @oneominousvalbatross, and I'll see you next week!

[raayllum]

the four ancient gifts, huh?

thoughts? furthermore: prayers?

I've been wanting to do a bit of an update to this meta about Gift Giving in TDP (written pre-S6) as a few different things (mostly as a goodbye in arc 1 and about magic in arc 2 thus far) that I think S6 contributed to our understanding of. For example, I'd speculated in that meta that due to the language used by characters, Archdragons were contemporaries of the First Elves back in the day (post-S6 followup here), and that possibly all forms magic had been a gift from the First Elves to the 'Primal' elves, with dark magic being Aaravos' to Leola's primal magic to humans. (If you want more details on this I'd rec reading the meta in full itself.) It seems like Something of that sort is roughly what happened

However, my old meta about deceptive gift giving in Greek myth / TDP means that gift giving doesn't necessarily have a positive connotation, particularly because in giving a gift, you're deciding what someone needs (even when they don't or don't want it). Callum doesn't want the gifts Rayla gives him in leaving; dark magic has ruined a lot of human lives and caused immense suffering; Rex Igneous asks for worthy gifts of sacrifice in exchange for knowledge; the cube was given to Callum as a gift, but clearly has a more complicated past / connection to Aaravos.

I do think in TDP that the world is ultimately better off with Primal magic than without, which is why Callum Exists in the narrative to create an actually fair system where everyone can access primal magic.

However, at this point in time, primal magic but be another deceptive gift given to the elves from the First Elves, and was clearly a part I'm of their Cosmic Order (destiny and all that) with also interplays with thoughts Rayla has that Callum/humans can change their fate, but she (elves) can't. Four Gifts is a weird number — if it was 5 or 6 it could be all the primals or all the primals except stars — but there Are four members of the Cosmic Council, and those gifts were ancient, so...

I'm assuming that it's one Gift from each of them, tbh. Whether those gifts are good or bad or both, we'll have to wait and see

[08melancholie]

Giddy up, Cowboy. — Micah Bell/Arthur Morgan.

tags: enemies to whatever the fuck they are, Toxic Yaoi type shit i love them oh god, Toxic Yaoi, Arthur Morgan Does Not Have Tuberculosis, Medium Honor Arthur Morgan, Micah Bell Is His Own Warning, Smut, Porn, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Blow Jobs, Oral Sex, Rough Oral Sex, Gay Sex, Anal, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Multiple Orgasms, Switching, Tension, Sexual Tension, Resolved Sexual Tension, Spit As Lube, Semi-Public Sex, Hate Sex, but just a teeny-tiny bit of it, SORRY couldn't help myself i hate them both and i also love them, honestly fucking micah bell is like sex as self harm here is it not???, i think just liking micah is self harm tbh

summary: Part 2 of 'Patch up, Cowboy'/Morbell fic #1 Series; A few weeks after the 'homestead job incident'—as Arthur calls it—more tension ensues between the two cowboys, leading to a whole lot of sexual exploration for one night out.

a/n: i have the worst love/hate relationship sith these two guys its insane. i drew art of this btw (not the sex part but the tension before bcz yk i love tension...)

words: 3,010 | AO3 LINK — SERIES LINK (Part 1&2)

When did things get this out of hand?

Does being on your knees in front of the biggest asshole you know cancel out the fact you both hate each others' guts? Or, what about having your hand in-between their shoulder blades, looking down at them bent over for you? Arthur sure as hell wonders.

Time has been flying by all too slowly since what happened during the homestead robbery, or well, after the planned ambush that Dutch himself fell fooled to. There was always a horrible tension between the two men, just not like the usual where they'd see each other in camp and sometimes glare in distaste; they'd avert their gazes and hide themselves under their hats. This went on for weeks without stop, endless hiding and avoiding. But they couldn't avoid how it made their bodies feel.

It became such a frequent thing that they both started acting like it was normal to get yourself off at night at the thought of the other. Hell, even Micah started going to his tent earlier in the night, just for that.

Lucky for them, most of the gang members didn't notice anything weird about their demeanour to one-another—unlucky for them was that the only person who noticed, was the one that could complicate their situation.

As soon as the two of them arrived back into camp, Dutch had a clear idea that something happened, and the fact they wouldn't disclose what both worried and frustrated him. Nobody was saying anything, and they avoided each other like the plague. So, Dutch went down to the core of the situation—the two of them couldn't stand being around each other, so why not make them? Great thinking.

Dutch set Micah and Arthur together for night watch, ignoring the many protests from both men who were sat in his tent. "I don't want to hear it; if you won't tell me what happened that's caused this, this is the alternative."

Clearly, neither Micah or Arthur had the guts to admit to their leader that they get aroused when around one another, or simply thinking of each other. They silently stared at Dutch for a moment before he shooed them off to process his words and what they'd have to do tonight.

It was seriously like a death sentence for them, having to finally face the problem head-on. Alone, with nobody to bother them. Alone.

With every moment that the sun dipped further down the horizon, the nerves of the two men grew. Stood so close to each other, their foreheads painted in sweat and an uncomfortably tense silence hanging in the air. It's terrible, really. The entire night at the fire replays in their minds, and it makes night watch very hard, seeing as they can't focus to save their lives. It takes a few hellishly long minutes for the tense silence to be broken, by Micah. "Have a light, Morgan?" Arthur—reluctantly—looks over at the sound of Micah's accented voice, who was a cigar hanging in his mouth, already looking at him.

"Uh, yeah." Arthur reaches into his satchel for a matchbox, taking one out to light when Micah offers Arthur a different cigar, for him to take. Weirdly enough, since Micah would usually rather do anything but share even a simple cigarette. With confusion and caution, Arthur takes the second cigar and lights the match. He brings it up to his cigar when Micah gets up very close to him, and Arthur feels Micah wrap an arm around his shoulder, using the same flame to light his cigar at the same time, while looking at Arthur—which makes him feel the sudden tightness of his trousers just like the night before. Little goddamn tease.

When the cigars light and Arthur tosses the match aside, Micah doesn't move back to his previous spot. His arm falls off of Arthurs shoulder, but he says right next to him. A silence befalls them again, but its so much worse. Why do they do this to themselves? Get each other riled up like this? It isn't benefitting anyone currently; they're just standing around with their erections outlined into their trousers.

Well, Micah has a plan, it seems.

"I don't eva do this type'a thing, cowpoke," He takes a final puff of his cigar when it's almost used-up, tossing it to the dirt and crushing with his boot. "so I'd feel honored if I was you." He chuckles slightly, but Arthur is still confused by what he means. Micah cocks his head at the mans' confusion. "Come on, 'ya don't see it?" Arthur definitely feels the blood run up to his cheeks when Micah looks directly to his bulge, and has to hold back on covering it with his hands.

Well, not like Micah doesn't have one of his own; a goddamn massive one. "What're you implying, Micah?"

The blonde man chuckles again. "It's like'm talkin' to a virgin;" He decides to be blunt about it, seeing as Arthur is either playing extremely coy, or is clueless. "let's help each other out. Just tonight—never speak of it again."

And while it does make Arthur's blood split between going to his already throbbing dick and already red enough face, it isn't that horrible of an offer. Night watch almost never escalates, and they've got nothing to lose in this situation; only to gain. The fact that Arthur is considering the offer is enough for Micah to quietly snicker and fully face Arthur now. "Good, so that's a 'yes'," He comments, and Arthur doesn't exactly disagree. "Well then, on your knees."

"On my knees?" Arthur creased an eyebrow at Micah, who just scoffed and nodding in a 'duh' motion. Arthur wasn't too keen on it, but he couldn't run from the fact that he'd envisioned this multiple times before, and that acting off about doing such a thing was only lying to himself. And so, he does as he's asked.

He shuffles down to the grass below, the terrain not as harsh as he expected it to be. He looks up at Micah, whose got the most obvious outline in his trousers he's ever seen, straining against the material. "..Damn, Morgan." Micah can't help staring down at him, practically mesmerised.

After a long pause of mere eye-contact and Micah's clothed shaft twitching at Arthur, he reaches up to fiddle with the gun belt around Micah's hips, and he other man enjoys it throughly, letting Arthur work him freely, as he likes. The gun belt meets the floor on Arthurs level, and he slowly moves to the beige trousers that Micah almost always wears, sliding the zipper down and undoing the little silver button holding the clothing article together. His fingers trace the rim of Micah's pants before slipping into the waistband, pulling down the restraints keeping his erection at bay. It jumps up at Arthur when Micah's trousers sit the floor, a small string of precum connected to the boxers around Micah's ankles that slowly drips down the red tip in front of Arthurs face. He's more thick than long, about average for all Arthur knows.

Micah is watching every nimble movement Arthur makes like a hawk, how he slowly undresses him and how he gawks at his cock, as if trying to figure it out. It brings a brief, huffy laugh out of Micah, looking down at Arthur in this position he can't help feeling even more turned on. "'Ya gonna start?" He breaks the silence up, licking his chapped lip that's long healed from the day at the homestead. Arthur clears his throat before sitting up on his knees to be on-level with Micahs hips, his rough hands sliding up Micah's slightly hairy thighs. Clearly, nerves are still pretty high about all this, but maybe a taste of whats to come will do Arthur good?

Has Arthur ever done this before? No, he was absolutely clueless on what he was doing. Has he had enough blowjobs to kind-of guess what he had to do? Possibly. He'll test that out. He gazes up to meet Micahs eyes as he leans closer to it, parting his lips slightly to peek his tongue out for a taste of the precum on Micah's tip. It's salty and slimy, connecting with Arthurs tongue as he licks a stripe up the head of it, earning a nice and low sigh from Micah, whose hand runs itself through Arthurs bangs and baby hairs, grabbing and tightly holding onto the brown strands as they fly out in every direction between his clenched fist. Arthur must be doing something right, surely. And so, he continues his slow, almost teasing licks up Micah's shaft, ending right at the leaky tip that twitches, begs him for more. And more he shall get.

"Fuuck, Morgan." Micahs hand pulls slightly on the brown hairs between his fingers, drawing him a bit closer. Dignity? What's that? Arthur's hands find the sides of Micah's thighs, still looking him directly in the eyes as his tongue makes a mockery of the twitchy cock in front of him—licking, kissing, hell, almost tempted to spit on it. It's like a twisted natural instinct that just makes him look like he knows what he's doing, how to tease Micah just right. You may call it revenge for all of Micah's own moments, some would say.

After a presumably long enough period of time, Arthur starts making his own self impatient—surprise, surprise. He parts his mouth enough to fit Micah's tip in his mouth, drawing a nice and long groan from Micah, Arthur getting his hair pulled a little harder by the man in response. "That's it," He hums quietly, feeling Arthur's tongue swirl around one time to gauge the blonde man's reaction—gaining a positive one, thankfully.

It's not long before Arthur has his cheeks hollowed—just to be filled by Micah's thick member until he's gone all in, his eyes narrowed and lidded, staring up at Micah when his lips almost meet the mans' stomach. It feels almost humiliating, but the lust somehow seems to very easily overpower any shame Arthur could be feeling about this—sucking another male off in the middle of camp, essentially. When Micah finally bottoms out in Arthurs mouth, he starts taking the reins; both hands on one side of the other man's head, gripping just enough to start moving to his own preferred pace. A few noises of discomfort from Arthur pass by Micah, who doesn't stop for a moment to remember that Arthur hadn't had any time to get used to Micah's whole length in his mouth—but Micah isn't considerate enough anyways, and being blue-balled so damn long really does bring some desperation and carelessness into a man.

Arthur's head bobs back and forth with a small grunt, his hands gripping onto Micah's outer thighs for life, trying to keep himself grounded while slowly losing himself in the moment. Without much warning—other than a soft groan and curse under his breath—Micah suddenly comes, painting the back of Arthur's throat in his spent. The man coughs and almost chokes when it happens, having been absolutely unprepared for it. Micah holds Arthurs head in place until he's got every drop running down Arthur's throat, only then letting his grip falter and withdrawing from the cowboys' mouth. "Well, that was somethin', huh cowpoke?"

Arthur gives himself a breather, coughing a few more times before he stands up to his full height, now towering over Micah once more. He curses under his breath as he tries to swallow the aftertaste down, before fully turning to Micah. "Think I've earned a turn." Micah looks at him for a moment before—somewhat reluctantly—starting to kneel. "Oh no, not that." Arthur grabs Micah by the shoulder, his strength unmatched by the other outlaw as he's spun and tossed around up to a nearby barrel, trying to look back at Arthur. "The hell is—"

He's shut up by the sound of metal, more precisely Arthur's belt unbuckling and trousers slowly dropping. Arthur tosses Micah's coat over his back to get a better view of just what he's doing, then pushes a heavy hand down the curve of Micah's lower back to arch him just slightly more. In Arthur's eyes, Micah is complying almost a little too freely to this, but he won't comment on that; as to not agitate him into leaving like the, usually selfish, asshole he can be. Arthur lets his garments drop with a sigh, feeling the cold night air almost instantly on his hot, throbbing cock that's already long leaking pre-cum.

A faint sound of spitting almost echoes through the woods around the area, a string of warm saliva dropping down on Micah's hole before it's circled around slowly by Arthur's finger. At least he's done anal before—God knows if Micah ever has, but judging by how he visibly clenches under Arthur's digit and how his hands dig into the wooden barrel underneath him for support, it's possible he hasn't. "Calm down," Arthurs leans down slightly to murmur, running a hand under the coat and undershirt Micah has on up his back, cold fingertips tracing his spine up to the space between his shoulder blades as he slowly eases a thumb into Micah, earning a small noise out of Micah, something between a hiss and moan. "loosen your muscles, it'll feel better." Arthur whispers, trying to almost guide Micah through this. Just why was he talking all sweet to him? Only God knows.

Micah manages to stop practically sucking Arthur's finger in, and the cowboy uses that as an opportunity to slip another in, earning himself another low moan from Micah which he rewards with a squeeze to the nape of Micah's neck where his hand now rests. "That's it," he adds when he scissors the two digits, trying to loosen Micah up as much as possible for his twitching shaft. Micah's sounds fill the surrounding nature, thankfully not loud enough to wake any camp members in the near radius. Arthur slowly withdraws his fingers before lining his tip up to Micah's anus, moving his hand to Micah's hip while the other rests between his shoulder blades to keep him in position. Micah is practically helpless under Arthur, the other man much stronger than himself which allows the cowboy to move him as he likes.

Arthur then circles his pre-cum over Micah's entrance with his tip, a little more lube just in case. He takes a moment, both to let Micah and himself brace for this, before he starts pushing his hips up to Micah's backside, Arthur's member slowly entering the others' body. He holds Micah in place and whispers really low words of encouragement to keep Micah from clenching and tightening too hard around him, easing each inch in and punctuating it with a small praise, either a word or squeeze of his hip and body.

Slowly but surely, Arthur close to bottoms out in Micah, who is gripping the barrel almost painfully hard to stay grounded. He hissed into his forearm and arches involuntarily with every one of Arthurs' filling movements, actually fairly enjoying the praise he receives from the man, surprisingly enough.

Arthur's hips finally come in contact with Micah's ass, fully sheathing his dick deep into the outlaws' guts. He takes a small breather, letting Micah adjust before he slowly pulls out to the tip, and slams back in. Micah grunts into his sleeve, biting down on his lip to keep himself as silent as possible with every slow yet deep repeat penetration from Arthur's length, who leans down and keeps his sweet, sweet praise up, mumbling low and encouraging words right next to Micah's ear as his cock repeatedly drills down Micah's asshole, skin slapping skin and ragged breathing filling the surrounding area, only ever interrupted by a low curse from Micah and rewarding praise from Arthur.

"I'm close, gonna let me inside?" Arthur suddenly breaks the silence that lingered for a moment, not faltering his rutting into Micah's ass once.

Micah manages to reply between all his little lewd grunts and groans, moans and mewls that spill like a waterfall. "Go right.. ahead, cowpoke.."

Arthur doesn't need much more clarification, he speeds up and leans back up to get a good angle on Micah, fucking into him a bit more roughly to get himself closer. Micah's moans and curses turn incoherent, words becoming fully intelligible to Arthurs' ears as he focuses on his pace and depth, while Micah moves a hand down to his already-newly-hard member to jerk himself to an orgasm.

These lewd noises could probably drive anyone away from camp that shouldn't be there, so technically, the camp isn't being exactly unprotected.

Soon enough, with a quiet 'shit!', Arthur connects his hips with Micah's backside and empties himself into the man, both hands moving to his hips to keep him there as his cock twitches deep inside Micah, every drop spilling into him. Micah gasps and jerks himself a few times before spilling into his hand, gasping for air as he reaches his second orgasm that night and Arthur leans down onto his back tiredly, his knees almost weak from what just went down. Their chests move in sync, heaving and trying to regulate their ragged and quickened breaths as Arthur slowly pulls out, reaching down to get his drawls and pants back on before clasping his gun belt on.

Micah recovers soon after as well, reaching down and covering himself as well as he wipes sweat off his forehead, finally grateful that the nights have gotten colder for once.

Micah picks his gun back up, with Arthur doing the same. They stand there for a quick moment, thinking back on whatever the hell just happened, when Arthur is the one of break the silence this time, turning his head towards Micah at almost the same time as the other cowboy.

"You have another cigar, Bell?"

"..Just one left."

"Maybe we can share."

Kudos on AO3 heavily appreciated!! Finally, the morbell fic is out of my goddamn drafts. I've wanted to finish this for weeks, but I've been worried about whether or whether not the writing was any good, considering I've never written this ship in a sexual setting—or written any gay sex before. But, nonetheless, needed to get it done. Hope it was good!

[apostaterevolutionary]

Collecting some thoughts on veilguard cause tbh I really don’t know how to feel lmao so. Unstructured ramble time

I’ve watched the trailer and the demo and I feel very. Idk? Still ‘wait and see’ mode for me. It’s been 10 years. Inquisition imo was the weakest of the 3. And while I have kind of moved on from DA there is a part of me that wants this to just blow everything out of the water and be amazing. I’m just not sure if that’s what I think will happen. Right now, I just think it doesn’t feel dragon age-y enough (in terms of what I, personally, consider the defining traits of the series) but I don’t want to jump to conclusions with so little information

The trailer was. Fine. Vibes were a little off but given its Varric narrating, it makes sense (also. Unpopular opinion lmao. I love Varric but I don’t think he should be a companion again. If there’s a carry over companion, it should have been Dorian. And tbh he could still be there, considering they said 7 companions but Varric is not included in that. So did they mean 7 *new* companions and maybe a few others? Advisors again maybe? Idk. Maybe Varric is a temporary companion, but I don’t think he should be there except maybe as a cameo. Scout Harding is an unexpected but fine carry over though). I don’t really have an opinion yet on the companions themselves cause there’s just. Nothing to base an opinion on other than the character designs

Gameplay demo shows that they’re definitely going very Inquisition-y. As in, continuing further down the path it started. Which isn’t unexpected, but is a bit disappointing, though not necessarily a dealbreaker as of yet. It’s probably smart tbh to go more in an action rpg direction than back to the crpg roots given it’s going to be compared to bg3 no matter what they do - better to differentiate as much as possible. Though I don’t think that’s why they did it, probably more a happy accident. I just. Idk, I found inquisitions combat a bit boring and I haven’t been impressed by what I’ve seen yet. But a 20 minute demo is probably not enough to really form an opinion

I feel like you can still see the echoes of this being a live service game at one point too. Healing potions coming from pots found in the environment (I never got over healing spells being cut btw lmao, bring back spirit healers already), the “ability wheel” (unsure about that too, given it sounds like we can’t control companion characters anymore? Kinda really don’t like that :/), stuff like that. I still feel like DA2 combat was the perfect balance between fluidity and strategy but it is what it is. It performed badly, so they’ve disregarded it wholesale rather than consider that some aspects of it may still be worth exploring. It sucks, but that’s capitalism I guess

As for all the other little things, idk, I really am not sure what to think yet lmao. Some sound good. Some less good (why only 2 companions, I don’t like that at all - also weird that the demo shows you won’t have a tank for the initial bit of the game. That’s a weird choice). Nothing to make me go aaaaaa either positively or negatively yet. I don’t even know what to say. My feelings are just so complicated about it, but also kinda empty at the same time. Like. It’s a bit of kombucha girl meme but also muted? I would like to feel just. More about it. But I don’t yet. I’m too unsure. Not quite numb, but almost tbh

At this stage, I feel like I’m gonna wait till it comes out and see what happens. No pre-ordering until I get a better idea. It’s like. With origins, I’ve played it a lot. DA2, even more - countless times lmao. Inquisition though, I played 2.5 times immediately after release and have tried to play it multiple times since but. I only ever get 10-20 hours in before I get bored and can’t make myself continue. I’ve tried many, many times and idk why but I just can’t do it. I never even played any of the DLC, so like. I kinda need to do that first if I’m gonna play veilguard but I have never succeeded before so idk how I will now lmao. But I feel like at least trespasser is necessary and I have genuinely never played it. And I gotta play the rest of the game first to get there and I genuinely don’t know if I can sksksjs

And with that in mind like. If inquisition is that unappealing to me, a game that feels very inquisition-y, potentially leaning even more into the stuff I didn’t like about it, is. Definitely not what I was hoping for. It’s still possible it’s leagues better than inquisition and actually playing it will be a great experience. But right now I just don’t know. I probably won’t be able form any kind of opinion until it comes out and I start getting info from trusted folks that I know have good DA opinions lmao

Idk. I’m not trying to be a wet blanket or a hater, and I genuinely don’t think I am being a hater at all, but I am just. Very tired and nervous. But also cautiously hopeful. I’ve said ‘idk’ a lot lmao but I truly don’t know at this stage. I guess we’ll see. Let’s hope it’s actually amazing and the very thing we need to make the series as a whole feel like it used to for us lapsed DA fans

[thegempage]

gonna elaborate on one of the steps from this post of mine about my ideal narilamb dynamic bcus i want to talk about them jfdklasjkfds so go check that out for context

but the idea (which i'm going to put under a cut bcus i love to Talk)

i'm thinking this is like, partway through their decade-ish phase where they're going from "mutual bitter betrayal" to "on friendly terms again," and the lamb is charged with re-killing and subsequently indoctrinating the bishops. which like... is gonna stir up a Lot of feelings (i also hc, in this case, that the bishop situation doesn't come up for at least a few years after the lamb initially defeats narinder, hence being in the mid phase) bcus the lamb thought they were striking down the bishops responsible for the horrors they've faced the first time, and now some asshole in a cloak is telling them they didn't do it right. plus narinder thought he was free of his siblings and ever having to confront the feelings he has about them but now they're going to be Here and he can't Hide Forever bcus he's far enough into healing that the lamb would be sad if he regressed back into isolation (and also he's been getting more involved with the day-to-day cult stuff and him disappearing would cause Issues)

(also. tbh i think narinder starts falling back in love first, bcus i feel like he spent so long stuffing down his feelings that now that he has a body that can Feel Emotions Physically he has a harder time ignoring them. not that he'd bring that up at this point but like, he's in a weird love/hate/desire for healing cycle with the lamb that they are Vaguely aware of but don't want to push bcus their own feelings on the matter are just as complicated and they Do Not want to address those)

so the lamb gets this mission to kill leshy again and take him in. they kind of talk to narinder about it but don't bring up all the details bcus they're not sure what they're going to do about leshy once he's in the cult, and they don't Necessarily trust narinder's first reaction to seeing his baby brother again, nor do they trust leshy to be around narinder for at Least a week or two, possibly longer. so narinder just knows the basics of the plan, and then the lamb fucking Disappears for a bit to get this done. narinder is stewing in his feelings while he runs the cult with the lamb's other disciples and he's not having a Great time. one may even accurately accuse him of having a Bad time. no one is going to bcus fuck if anyone is going to bring up that he seems to be in a bad mood more often these days.

the lamb comes back with leshy. narinder is Not a fan of this choice but it's not like he had any way of denying it, bcus the lamb Has to do something about the bishops or shit is gonna get bad, and even if he wishes they would just kill him, the lamb isn't exactly known for that (their tendency toward second chances, after all, is the only reason he's going through this). the lamb keeps them apart for a while until leshy settles in and it's clear he's not in any immediate danger of dissenting, at the very least. narinder still kind of avoids him bcus he's pissed off that leshy was involved in imprisoning him and he's afraid that leshy is upset with him about tearing out his eyes (he is, but he's not about to have that argument without back up).

and narinder and the lamb have managed to go a little while without arguing about anything big, bcus they're both trying to work on that (and the arguments are never Actually what they're about so it's not like they were getting anywhere), but narinder is so on edge about leshy that he snaps at the lamb and they snap back bcus they're on edge about heket and this mysterious cloaked figure (which narinder can Kind of see but not yet communicate with, for other reasons i have hcs for about his return to divinity and will maybe one day elaborate on separately). they get into a shouting match about the lamb's choices about what to do about the bishops and how much of those choices are actually in their control and how much each of them is upset about these developments and how much narinder does Not want to see his other three siblings again, and really it's about narinder feeling left out of the thought processes and the lamb feeling like they can't trust him to be involved and therefore having no one to turn to bcus it's not like they can address these issues with their regular ass mortal disciples and also both of them are heavily traumatized by the bishops and don't want to acknowledge said trauma. it's messy and loud and they both walk away pissed

but the important thing is after they walk away from said argument they both feel guilty about it. and they've always felt Bad walking away from shouting matches and they've occasionally felt a Little guilty about big arguments but this is the first time they've both been like "fuck, maybe we could have talked that out instead of yelling" so they regroup and apologize for parts of it and kind of talk about other parts (they're still not Completely there, to be clear, we're still in the "figuring out wtf is happening between us" phase) and the lamb lets narinder in more on their plans for heket and asks for his advice on dealing with her after she's brought into the cult and about how much he wants to be involved. which starts the ball rolling faster on them starting to make up bcus now they're on more equal footing and narinder feels less like he's being blocked from the important parts and the lamb feels less isolated in the process of dealing with the people responsible for so much of the pain in their life

and if like.......... narinder has a few dreams that he dwells on for a while or stares at the lamb too intensely during sermons. well that's his business. the lamb definitely doesn't think about him while they run solo crusades or while they're alone in the evenings, wandering around and helping out the night crew with the occasional tasks, not if you asked them

(there's also a decent amount of timespan involved with this, but that's not as important jfkldsajdf in my head this takes place over the course of about four months, from the mysterious seller appearing to them starting discussions about heket, with bringing in all four bishops taking about a year and a half total, potentially closer to two years depending on narinder's reactions to heket and kallamar and the seasons' effects on the lamb)

[utilitycaster]

Hi! This might be a bit of a weird ask (and a rambly one - sorry!) but you're one of the most level-headed and rational fandom members I know and I might need you to slap some sense into me, so to speak, especially considering you've been vocally critical of Marisha's choices for Laudna before. Now I loved the episode and the inner-party conflict in this episode. It was so fun and investing and tbh I've never been as interested in Laudna as a character as during last episode (she just doesn't work for me on several levels) and I do think Marisha did a stellar job RP wise. But something grated against my nerves about how she said OOC that Laudna hasn't lied. Because Laudna has lied. By omission, deflection or otherwise. It cannot all be attributed to Delilah being the pushing force of that. And I feel weird about Marisha (afaik) not acknowledging that. If she said "Laudna feels like she hasn't lied" it would probably be different but the "I still maintain: Laudna hasn't lied. It wasn't Laudna." at the end of the episode after Laura calls Laudna out for the direct lie about the harness feels kinda trying-to-have-my-cake-and-eat-it-too in this regard. I know that Marisha can make decisions that I don't gel with and make characters that can get under my skin in specific ways (and I enjoy that about her!) but idk maybe I have difficulties putting my trust in her with this because I didn't like a lot of her choices for Laudna so far. Anyway. Maybe I just need to hear from you that I'm being stupid about this and that Marisha is going to handle this in a differentiated way. (also highly unrelated but to end on a more positive note I'm excited for you to catch up on fhjy!)

Hey anon! Thank you for all the kind words, and good news! On CR Cooldown Marisha does clarify she means this as "Laudna is not lying because, whether or not it is correct, this is what she believes". I'm going to talk more below, but hopefully that helps.

For what it's worth, I tend to not put a huge amount of emphasis on things the cast says OOC as compared to what's happening in game, for a number of reasons, and advise others do the same. I think it's really easy for those statements to become outdated or outright contradict the text (remember when people kept bringing up Laura on like, one of the first 4SD episodes saying Imogen tries not to read people's minds and it's like. ok but in canon, she does this ALL the time so this is a useless argument?), the cast is working off more information than we are slash might deliberately be hiding info from each other, and also anything said right after they break is often a really emotional statement that they, as Marisha did here, will immediately either clarify or recant after a few minutes to, well, cool down.

The lies of omission thing is also incredibly rich as a source of conflict here, particularly between Imogen and Laudna, which, as someone who's been very frustrated with a lack of conflict on that front, is very exciting. What happens when you have someone who, in classic warlock fashion, hews to the law of lying (I didn't say anything literally false!) and not the spirit (lying by omission that Delilah was the cause) and who also makes promises she's unable to keep; and she's in a relationship with someone who is exceptionally sensitive to lies by omission, lying in general, and kind of has trouble with people simply not revealing their true intentions? I think Laudna is so suggestible that she's a liability, and the party just found out, and that's the dangerous thing - if she were malicious and lying maybe they could pick it up and this would have an easy fix, but she really does believe it will be different this time and Delilah isn't misleading her for power (Delilah is 100% misleading her for power), and that makes it much more complicated. It's very juicy.

[signanothername]

If Nightmare was 6 years old when he turned corrupted, what do you think of little Nightmare traveling in the multiverse? Also, what if he heard voices from the souls he killed and now he's schizophrenic? I also read some of your theories and that made me think he's bipolar or borderline!

6 y/o corrupted Nightmare has my heart ugh 😭❤️🌷✨

The thing is, I believe traveling the multiverse didn’t even occur to Nightmare at first, mostly out of ignorance about the existence of it, so you can imagine Nightmare being stuck in his dead Au with his dead mother and his now statue of a twin

Not to mention, he was too high in his madness for a bit of time before he actually connected back to reality

But even when he realized he could travel, he resisted the idea at first, mostly out of fear, anxiety, and not wanting to leave his dead home cause it’s the only place he ever knew

Change was really scary to an already very traumatized little Nightmare, cause what if he went out there and there were people who were even worse than the villagers? What if people saw him and chased him with forks and demanded a “demon” like him be killed?

But as time went on, Nightmare became on the verge of falling into madness again, the silence of his dead home getting to him, so he runs away, runs as far as he could

Everything got too much for him and he just wanted to move on from what he experienced, but he’s just a child that doesn’t know any better, and all he could do is hop from Au to Au in search for a new place to call home

Which took a while, Nightmare would simply stop to stay in Aus for a few days and then leave to another one, he’d sleep under trees or between their branches if he felt unsafe (which was most of the time)

I also like to believe Nightmare struggled to control his powers a lot as a child, not knowing how to control his tentacles or even his power to hop between Aus, which sometimes got him into trouble

But Nightmare also couldn’t seem to resist the temptation to get as much negativity as he can, he looks at a person who’s hurt and he’s unable to stop the twisted smile from forming on his face, which to a 6 y/o was a horrifying thought at first, the thought of finding joy in the suffering of others

A horrifying thought that gets muddied every time he sees someone suffering and feel the high of power after he absorbs their negativity, eventually turning from simple observation to a single (not so) innocent try at hurting others himself, and that turns into his new regular as he hurts more and more people and as any true sympathy he has just slowly slips away

He eventually finds an abandoned Au without life and decides that it’s his new home, staying there without a roof above his head for a while before he’s able to have enough control over his powers to build his castle

And tbh I can’t really see Nightmare as schizophrenic, as I don’t think he feels much guilt for killing off his abusers, but I definitely think he feels a lot of guilt for killing his mother while having complicated feelings about his twin’s fate, but I definitely think Nightmare has C-PTSD and experiences a lot of nightmares /night terrors

As for the possibility of him having BPD or Bipolar then you’re on point, i’ve yet to truly decide which he has, but I’m leaning more towards BPD, but until i make a final decision (after i do a lot of research on both disorders) it’s still undecided

[snicker-dooodless]

excuse me sir but im gonna need you to ramble about sun wukong >:3

Okay- okay okay, so I’ve been holding back from answering this for a whiiilllee because I found it difficult to ramble about Wukong because my selfship with him is…complicated…[Rambling below!]

I love Wukong, I really do! And I really wanted to selfship with him when I first started to realize I had a crush on him. But- unlike allll of my other self ships, I couldn’t for the life of me think of lore for him and my sona. And I KNOW that’s not a big of a deal, selfshipping is supposed to be fun and free, but that little annoying bit in my brain keeps on telling me I have to have something planned out before selfshipping with him fully, like- before making a sona or drawing any art. And that’s okay! If it’s really bothering that small part of my brain so much, I’ll listen to it and put that selfship on the back burner and let me think about it.

But….in the mean time…there’s a certain other monkey that I’ve been eyeing uppp….

Macaque is so stupid. He is so edgy and thinks he’s so much cooler than he actually is. He’s exactly my type of guy. I can’t NOT fuck him.

For some reason, lore for him and my sona came SOO much easier than the lore or Wukong and my sona.

My sona, who, I’m just calling Sam for now cause I want to give her a Chinese themed name, but I wanna make sure I don’t accidentally fuck it up, so I’m putting that on the back burner for now as well! But annyyyway, she’s a sort of goddess. I don’t want to say exactly a goddess because I’d feel obligated to research Chinese legends so I don’t accidentally insult anyone but research scares me so I’m not committed to anything yet.

But, she’s technically a sky goddess. More specifically, a thunder/lightning goddess. She thinks so insanely high of herself and she is not afraid to let you know that. I’m sure all the praise she gets from her followers and stuff doesn’t help her ego but whatever.

Right now she’s trying to blend more into modern times, I don’t know whyyyy she’s doing this, she’s not afraid to just i go nto goddess mode randomly in the streets if there’s any danger, I think she’s just trying be ‘hip with the kids’ since she’s technically like thousands of years old. Idk.

She’d probably be introduced to the main group during when Lady Bone Demon freezes over the city and she joins the group to help. In the first few seasons/episodes she wouldn’t take up to much spotlight, she’d just be like Nezha at first before getting more dedicated episodes.

I don’t think I’ve described her that well so if you’re interested feel free to check out the Pinterest section I have for her (I also have one for her and Macaque)

Speaking of her and Macaque, I haven’t quite figured out their dynamic yet, only bits and pieces, but I like to think that at first they had a bit of a friendly rivalry. At first their egos would definitely clash causing them to get in petty arguments which would then lead to a small physical fight to let off steam.

It would start like Sam getting mad or petty at Macaque, throwing a lightning bolt in his direction, and when he ducks and turns around to stare at the lightning bolt now wedged into the wall, before smirking at her and being like. “Oh, ho ho ho, so you wanna go?”

And despite them having a sort of rivalry at first, it went by so quick I wouldn’t call their dynamic enemies to lovers, idk what I would call them tbh, but def not enemies to lovers lol.

They would often start physical fights, mostly by Sam being eager to show off and just fight and Macaque just humoring her. They would often do it to train, or just when both of them have won’t up energy, but when their relationship turns more romantic there would be something about how they fight that would make the group leave the room due to being grossed out.

ALSO! I kind of headcanon that in this universe, where my selfship exists, ShadowPeach did happen. And Macaque was dedicated, he was ready to give that relationship his all. And Wukong (who I headcanon to have commitment issues) was scared shitless at that fact.

But my sona is nothing if not committed. She’ll brag about her relationship with macaque, 24-7. If anyone insults him? Uhm??? Excuse you??? How dare you insult the partner of the sky goddess???

And Macaque is not used to that, at all!! He’s used to being the one who’s dedicated, not the other way around.

Anyway, ShadowStorm core blast!!!

[voidbeau]

It's 6am. It's still too early for me to be up but i can't sleep so I'm gonna yap about some worldbuilding headcannons for one of my many twomp aus.

I'm gonna feel so awful later I just know it.

I'm a tired bitch.

Anyway!!

I did talk to a friend about this but I don't think I ever took this whole thing to tumblr before??? I dunno.

Maybe I mentioned it briefly maybe I didn't, I literally am not sure lol.

I think i tried to talk about it once before?? But chickened out then and left it as a draft lmao.

But I don't care as much anymore so here we go:

---

I have an au that includes a kind of Voidfolk classification system? Because I imagine there are very, very different types of beings that inhabit the Void.

Tbh tho, it's definitely spilled over into almost all my fics cause I think it's fun.

To start off, we have the "creature", which is one of your most common type of Voidfolk you'll find most places in the Void.

They're your basic humanoid figure with an object, plant or animal head.

Often they will exhibit traits and behaviors that somehow align with their headshape.

E.i. sheep people may be meek, crowd followers, tv head people may be inclined to be entertainers or the center of attention, broadcasting their thoughts all day, etc.

Also, these type of Voidfolk may also show natural talents for things they reflect. E.i. plant Voidfolk are often very good botanists and agriculturalists.

You get the picture.

Internal anatomy may also reflect headshape which may get a little complicated when seeking medical attention. Good to have a variety of creature-types in the field who specialize I guess though I think regardless it is a predominantly mammalian internal structure.

Yes, I imagine creature's have sub-types but that could span into a whole other post.

Anyway, aside from those few things mentioned above, I imagine Voidfolk are very comparable to humans. Similar shape and size- maybe only slightly bigger on average , similar in physical capabilities, though they may have the ability to outlive humans by some amount of time.

Otherwise, mostly just as fragile.

---

The second most common Voidfolk, and often in my AU's, the most widespread, are Little Monsters.

Guys like Mark Mark and friends!

Little Monsters are named so because they are a much smaller Voidfolk who, on average, don't get much taller than around 5'.

But there are always exceptions.

Sometimes I like to imagine Little Monsters may refer to themselves differently, but most Voidfolk- and humans, know them as that, Little Monsters.

I imagine them being almost as common among humans as they are in the Void.

They have a natural friendly demeanor that allows them to meld into most communities with little issue and are often very good at things like trade and commerce.

Many also have a natural affinity for child care, making them great to have around as daycare workers or nannies.

Lots of fun these guys!

I will completely admit that this is basically just FFXIV lalafell lore but I can't help it. Little monsters give me lalafell vibes so hard. 😭

---

Onto one of my favorite, the not quite as common "Monster" citizen.

On the surface, they are best described as much larger, much heartier Creature citizens.

They appear to have the same physical characteristics that Creatures- in that they are humanoid beings with an object, plant or animal head.

But that seems to be as far as the similarities go.

Unlike creature citizens, monster's don't have the same behavioral inclinations as creature's do.

A sheep headed monster feels no particular pull to follow the crowd. No more than your average individual might.

Though monsters may show more physical traits and abilities that reflect their headshape.

Like plant monster's with vines that function as extra limbs or the ability to grow and utilize thorns from their bodies. :)

One of the main noticeable differences in monsters is that they are on average, a lot bigger than creatures and humans.

And MUCH larger and distinct from little monsters.

Your typical monster citizen can range anywhere from 6'5" to even 9' though they usually hover around the 6'7 to 7' range roughly.

They are larger and tougher and often times considered to be a lot more aggressive in nature than your typical Voidfolk.

While it's not totally proven that monsters are anymore dangerous than their smaller counterparts, it is undeniable that monsters are typically known to be much more boisterous and high energy individuals.

Unfortunately, It also isn't uncommon for a lot of them to be involved in a lot of illicit activities or simply to be the cause of noise complaints or accidental property damage.

It's very common for monster's to be the blame for things going wrong in a community.

As such, they often only hang around in very specific Voids. There are even some Voids that outright ban the presence of monsters or other Voids that base strict policies around monsters residing there.

Life is a little rough on them, but many of them prefer to keep things quieter anyway.

Lots of monsters live in smaller, monster focused communities.

Unlike creature centered communities though, there's no strict rules over who can live there among them.

Due to the general monster reputation among most Voidfolk though, not many people outside of monsters and some little monsters choose to live in those communities.

There are of course, always exceptions.

There have been lots of speculation and debate over the existence of monsters amongst Voidfolk since forever, but most people seem to agree that they're evolved from some type of predatory species, and that the reason they look the way they do was originally so they could lure in and kill creatures for food.

It's much easier to get at your prey if you can mimic their appearance and behaviors afterall.

Thats the generally accepted explanation at least. Nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

The history of the Void as a whole is a murky, messy confusing one.

---

One of my other favorites even if there isn't much to go by,

Entities.

These are beings of the Void with very little info available to the public on them.

The only thing anyone needs to know about them is that they are all highly dangerous and cannot be reasoned with.

They are a kill on sight force and as a result, are difficult to study due to their immediate hostile and high risk nature.

There are some books that offer some information on the history of entities, but they are very few and very old and often kept tucked away somewhere safe and private.

---

Lastly, humans are also slowly being added to the official Voidfolk classification list.

There have been many over the centuries who have chosen to move to and live in the Void and therefore, generations of humans who were born and raised there.

The interesting thing is the difference in physical appearance from Voidborn humans and humans who were born and raised in the human world.

Many Voidborn humans display odd mutations, such as a fleshy bumps on their heads that resemble horns, twisted static faces that seem almost mask-like, and missing or extra facial features such as a third eye or mouths in place of eyes.

While to most Voidfolk, humans already have an unsettling mask-like appearance, there is a kind of uniformity to the average human appearance that Voidborn humans don't quite display.

While some humans have chosen to make their homes in the Void in the past, the sheer influx of them that the Void has been seeing lately is completely unprecedented.

Much like monsters, humans of any kind are often met with a hard time amongst many Voidfolk as they are considered outsiders despite a number of them having lived in the Void their entire lives.

---

I think that's mostly it.

I definitely forgot some details that'll I'll probably kick myself to later but if anyone has questions I'd be happy to answer to the best of my ability!!!

I've had this whole thing brewing in my head for over a year now. It's an old one and was meant for one of my larger fic ideas but again, I like using it for most of my aus and what not lmaooo.

But it's still not a perfectly fleshed out idea of course. Just something I like to mull over for fun.

[zhongwans]

Hi zhongwans, can you help us remember the exact injury of Zhang Zhehan back in 2017-2018?

From what I can remember he had his ACL reconstructed, how come people are now saying ZZH's ACL was intact and the injury isn't serious?

Tysm in advance!

I don't really know that much about the details of ZZH's injury tbh, I'm not the best person to ask. Here's a rough overview based on ZZH's posts on weibo and IG (I can't promise that this timeline is accurate, so do double check)

So we all know ZZH used to play basketball and was very good at it. And that on April 7 2018, he injured his knee (specifically, his meniscus was torn) while playing basketball. And then he had surgery (ACL reconstruction) on May 31 2018.

While he was still in recovery, he was asked to come back to film more scenes for a drama by Yu Zheng, his former-former boss. ZZH had to walk around the set in crutches when he was still supposed to be resting and focusing on his recovery. It's understood that this incident only exacerbated his injury, caused complications, and firmly crushed ZZH's chances of returning to basketball. He has actually mentioned before that one of his deepest regrets was rushing back into acting before he had fully recovered.

According to a Haizhe friend of mine, this was a particularly sad part of their time as a ZZH fan. Although under the management of an influential boss like Yu Zheng, ZZH's acting career was stagnant with very little hope of improvement, and worse, he now had this crushing injury that took even basketball away from him.

Things took a slightly better turn when he left Yu Zheng's management in early 2019 and signed under Zhao Wei (Vicki Zhao) in March of that same year. There he had his own studio and (according to some fans at that time) Zhao Wei supported him well while giving him plenty of freedom.

On March 9 2019, he posted on Instagram lamenting the state of his knee: "I really don't know if I can still continue to fly,"

And on March 28, he posted a medical report of an MRI scan revealing the state of his knee. I won't pretend that I understand everything in that report because I'm dumb, but it didn't seem favourable. Plus, you can sort of tell from his caption.

He continued rehabilitating his knee and constantly posted updates about it on his IG account, keeping his fans up to speed on the progress (there are even more photos on his hijacked IG)

On July 27 2019, he posted about how he had practiced basketball with Lou Williams (an NBA player? I think?) who he said kept cheering him on and encouraging him. ZZH said his leg wasn't doing too well.

On September 17, he made a weibo post saying that though things weren't looking good, he was hoping the future would be better and that he would give his knee more time.

ZZH has had quite a few interviews talking openly about his injury and why he had to give up basketball. Back in 2020 there was an interview where he said he couldn't do intense sports like basketball anymore, so he chose to switch to golf. He also mentioned giving up basketball and choosing golf in this QQ interview. He was asked if there were other high-impact sports he wanted to try in the future and he responded that there was none and he will only do sports "fit for the elderly" from now on.

On March 29 2021, he talked about letting go of basketball because after two years of continuous attempts to fully rehabilitate his knee, he had finally accepted that it was impossible for him to go back to basketball, and the only thing he can do now is to fall in love with another sport. So yes there are in fact a lot of instances where ZZH himself confirmed that he can no longer play basketball and that he wasn't willing to go back to it or try other similarly high-impact sports for the sake of his health.

So it's incredibly baffling that ZSJ's team is now claiming that ZZH's injury was never that serious and that he can now, all of a sudden, play basketball at the same level of intensity as before. In the WOH behind the scenes clips there were even instances where some crew members had to help him up because he had trouble doing it himself. One of the latest instances was when he had trouble standing up during his birthday live from 2021 and fans were pissed at his studio for arranging the fan letters in a way that he had to crouch down to read them. And if you're a JZP you've most likely seen the clips of Gong Jun having to help him up from crouching positions, and all the times he stooped down to take something from the ground for ZZH. His injury was absolutely no joke and the people around him know it.

And that's the thing about ZZH. He has been around in the industry for over 10 years and he was a frequent poster on weibo. So a lot of things were documented, from his cringefail emo poetry about sad swans to updates on his injury and attempts at rehabilitating his knee. This stuff is well-documented and I don't get why some people are still falling for ZSJ's crap. ZZH made no secret about how he kept on trying and hoping to recover and get back to basketball, he was open about his regrets and he was open about the fact that there was no hope for him to get back to basketball and that he was transferring his passion to golf.

ZSJ doesn't even bother to edit in the surgery scars and yet people still keep falling for it. I don't even know anymore 💀

[destinyc1020]

I loved your review of Challengers!!!! I watched the movie 3 times now and although I love the vibes the film gave me, I had big issues with the script and overall's Tashi's arc. I felt that the male characters were more interesting as ppl and their story of a close friendship turned rivalry to ending with both of them not speaking for years was quite compelling. I honestly just thought Tashi was a symbol for them tbh. this is where I blame the writer Justin cause the reason he made Tashi black was because he was inspired by Serena and Naomi Osaka however, this film is very apolitical. Outside of the mention of the alleged racist tennis opponent, her race is never mentioned. Her black father isn't even present in the older Tashi scenes. So what was the point of taking such good care of her white boys' line?

The last point is not going to be a point but a link. It discusses how Zendaya is the next leading lady of the generation. I have some thoughts but I hope you can read it so we can discuss. I do think that one critic has some inflammatory comments on Z that I feel are more personal than biased, but as a dark-skinned black woman, I can understand where that frustration comes from. It is tough because it is a lot and I appreciate if you do want to add any more discourse because I do feel Z sometimes is separated apart because she biracial black woman the bigger issue is Hollywood as an entity but using that white boy line kinda justify it for me.

https://www.vulture.com/article/zendaya-challengers-leading-lady-debate.html

Whew!!! Anon....this was a very deep and interesting read! Thank you for your kind words Anon about my review. Like I said, I'm always 100% honest on here about how I feel lol. 😄

I'll just say this, that overall, people are going to have varying opinions on someone's acting or just a film in general. I look at films and an actor's performance as just something that is subjective.... One person may LOVE a film or an actor's performance, and another person may think the film/acting was just "So-so". It's just like a piece of art. We can all have various different tastes, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that necessarily? Sometimes, our life experiences, exposure, and world view can shape how we view certain films or pieces of art. So, I am not even surprised that one of the critics in this article doesn't really care for Z's acting/films, etc... It's her personal opinion I guess.... 🤷🏾‍♀️

I'm a little iffy as well on Justin's writing tbh.... I remember when leaks of the script/screenplay FIRST came out, people were cringing lol. 😅 I'm glad that the film version wasn't as cringe-worthy as some people felt the film would be. I still would have changed some things about the writing.

But hey, sometimes, you don't need a picture-perfect film with picture-perfect characters. Sometimes, life is complicated, PEOPLE are complicated, and you don't need an ending that's tied neatly into a nice little bow with a "happily ever after" attached.

With that said, I'll comment and provide my reaction to some of the points in the article you just linked:

Whew... Welp...She made some interesting points. I know this will probably ruffle a few feathers here, but she's definitely coming in with some hard-hitting thoughts and feelings.

I've been saying this about Hollywood for years... The fact that monoracial, YOUNG, desirable, darker-skinned black women are basically ignored in Hollywood.... I do agree with her statements on this. I am a huge supporter of Z, and I love that she has the type of power that she has in Hollywood, but I do also feel for my darker-hued sisters as well. 😔

With regards to race.... Don't get me wrong, I don't need films where black people (black women especially) have to address RACE in every single role that is given a black person. Is it just me?? But sometimes, it's just REFRESHING to watch a movie, see a black person onscreen, and NOT have to think about race. 👀 We already have to deal with race and think about it just about every single day, 24/7... That can at times be exhausting. Sometimes, when you watch movies, you just want to ESCAPE...Escape your problems, escape reality, escape real life, or just escape what's on your mind atm, etc... You don't need a constant reminder of societal issues, and views of "blackness" in every single film that features a black person. At least, I don't feel that way.

But I do feel like certain elements and ways that woc (black women in particular) are portrayed onscreen DO play a huge role in how we are viewed in society, how we view ourselves, and how certain stereotypes are continuously perpetuated. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Anyway, I still hate that "white boys" line lol. It just seemed cringe to me, and totally out of nowhere lol. 😅 I'm like, do people even talk like that in REAL life? I doubt it lol.

Hmmm....interesting take.... 🤔

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I meannnnn....I DO have to agree w/her statement on Timmy and Zendaya in the "Dune" franchise. I sense more platonic/"Friendship" chemistry btwn them, than actual sexual or sensual chemistry tbh. 👀

Whereas, I felt like she and Josh definitely seemed to have tangible sexual chemistry onscreen in "Challengers". Sometimes, you can know someone a little TOO well, that when you act with them in romantic scenes, it's not really believable because you two are like brother and sister vibes irl with each other lol. 🤣 I think that's the case w/Timmy and Zendaya onscreen.

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While I don't agree with her that black people should ONLY work with mostly other black people onscreen lol, I will say that I agree with her part highlighted above. I've been saying for a while now that I'm really curious to see how Z would fare in a film directed by a black director, surrounded by a primarily black cast. 😊

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With all of this said, I have to admit, this little part right here made me smile...

I can see it too! The Academy LOOOVES indie films like these. 😊😃

Anyway, great read Anon! 👍🏾 Thanks for sharing! It was good to get dual sides of the coin from their differing opinions.