#the only thing better than making lists is making diagrams

[ernaux]

Favourite art of 2023 (mostly older works that I discovered this year) — taking @motifcollector 's baton 🏃‍♂️ & adding a videogame category:

Fiction:

The castle of crossed destinies by Italo Calvino

The besieged city by Clarice Lispector

The savage detectives by Roberto Bolaño (how did I not read it sooner!! life changing)

Nonfiction:

A portrait of M by Matei Călinescu

The years by Annie Ernaux

Mourning diary by Roland Barthes

A girl's story by Annie Ernaux

On photography by Susan Sontag

Countersexual manifesto by Paul B. Preciado (life saver)

Ararat by Louise Glück (should make a poetry section instead but I haven't read enough poetry books to do that)

Music (2023 releases specifically):

María José Llergo - VISIÓN Y REFLEJO

Caterina Barbieri - Math of You

Kelela - Raven

Bad Gyal - Chulo pt.2

Rebe - duelo de amor

Chico Blanco - Q NO

EDDI CIRCA - EN EL BOSQUE UN CLARO

Caroline Polachek - Desire, I want to turn into you

Judeline - Canijo

Sevdaliza - Who are you running from

Abhir Hathi - BROWN BOY BOUNCE

Film:

Anatomy of a fall, dir. Justine Triet

Documenteur, dir. Agnès Varda

Strange voyage, dir. Fernando Fernán Gómez

Foragers, dir. Jumana Manna

Down by law, dir. Jim Jarmusch

The white ribbon, dir. Michael Haneke

Crash, dir. David Cronenberg

Through the olive trees, dir. Abbas Kiarostami

One way or another, dir. Sara Gómez

Ran, dir. Akira Kurosawa

La chimera, dir. Alice Rohrwacher

Videogames:

Disco Elysium (another life changing work of art... can't believe it's only been in my life for a year)

Pentiment (Idem)

Superliminal (SO GOOD)

Inscryption (haven't beaten it yet but the first part ??? SICK. also the sound design!!! delish)

Return of the Obra Dinn (YES AHAHA YESSSSS. And so interesting learning about localizing games)

Everything (David O'Reilly please make more art)

I tag whoever feels like doing this! I enjoy reading these kinds of lists a lot

[fluentmoviequoter]

Skepticism

Requested Here!

Pairing: Tim Bradford x fem!(NFL)football player!reader

Summary: Tim is skeptical about the first female NFL player. When he shares his opinion with you, he doesn't realize that you are the woman he's talking about.

Warnings: fluff, Tim gets embarrassed and apologizes a bunch, flirting

Word Count: 2.1k+ words

A/N: Bodyguard Tim👀 If this reads like Eric Winter talking about sports in He Said, Ella Dijo just remember that he's Tim Bradford. They're pretty much the same.

Masterlist | Tim Bradford Masterlist | Request Info/Fandom List

The history of the NFL has changed forever! The first female player has been drafted into the NFL, in the Los Angeles Rams’ 13th pick.

Since the moment your name was called at the NFL draft, your life has been turned upside down. Being the first female player in the league has resulted in unending news coverage, mixed praise and backlash, and unescapable attention. People know your name now, and as you prepare to change your life forever by putting on a Rams jersey, you can only hope that the skeptics are wrong about you and what you’ll do on the field.

“Dinner tomorrow!” Lucy yells at Tim. “Be there!”

“I will,” he replies. “Unfortunately.”

“Be nice,” Angela chides.

“You can always back out and stay home to watch the game,” Nolan points out.

“If they’ll start showing the games again,” a nearby officer interjects. “Everything on ESPN has been about the chick that got drafted. Even during the games, she’s all the commentators can talk about.”

“There’s a girl in the NFL?” Lucy asks. “Finally!”

“Wait, who?” Tim inquires. “I stopped watching the draft before it was over, but how’d I miss that?”

“You must’ve been very busy,” the officer replies. “She’s everywhere, man. Football got ruined. They can’t leave anything sacred.”

Tim doesn’t add to the misogynistic view of his colleague but knows that he has some research to do. Football history has certainly changed, but Tim won’t decide on how he feels about a woman playing professionally until he learns more for himself.

“The Rams, man,” the officer laments.

The moment Tim arrives home after his shift, he turns on ESPN. SportsCenter is on, and he’s unsurprised to see a woman’s name projected behind the men at the desk.

“No, John, what we’re failing to consider is her history,” Rocky Boiman points out. “Her college playing record is better than the twelve male drafts ahead of her.”

“The point remains that a historically male-dominant sport is supposed to be male-dominant,” John Anderson argues.

“If we take the gender out, the size difference, everything except how well these people play, she blends right in,” Tedy Bruschi states. “Regardless of whether or not she should play, she can play, and she does it very well.”

“I’ve been watching her in action since her senior year of high school,” Rocky adds. “If anybody has what it takes to be here, we’re looking at her.”

“Until she gets hit,” John comments. “There may not be regulations against female players, but statistically, she is more likely to be injured.”

“Then she would’ve been injured in college,” Tedy interrupts. “At the end of the day, this comes down to one of two things. Either you don’t think women should be in the NFL, for whatever reason, or you’re ignoring the facts and judging her prematurely. I will end with this, if you think this woman should quit before she starts, you’re going to be proved wrong.”

The SportsCenter logo appears on the screen before Sarah Barshop of the Rams and Matt Bowen, an analyst, begin reviewing your stats and playing history. You played in college, but your stature and your above average statistics alone don’t convince Tim. Not because you’re a woman, but because he’s seen better odds. He’ll never say that you don’t deserve a spot on the team, but he won’t believe that you can make a difference to the team until he sees it. If you can prove it at all.

“They’re talking about you again,” your friend says.

You look up from your playbook diagram and smile. The men on SportsCenter have been talking about you every chance they get. It’s not just them, though, everyone with a pulse and an ounce of interest in football has an opinion of you.

“Still arguing about if I’ll get my collarbone snapped in the first game?” you guess. “Or have they moved on to female hormones?”

“Most of them are defending you. Your stats are all they seem to care about,” your friend explains. “Maybe you will have a fan base bigger than me and my cats.”

“But you’re all I need.”

“That and a Rams paycheck.”

You laugh and return your attention to the book before you. You’re entering a new world with a lot to prove, so you’re going to be ready for anything.

“Hey, we should go to dinner tomorrow night. We haven’t had time to celebrate with all of the interviews and everything.”

“That sounds great. Just don’t pick a sports bar.”

Tim looks away from the football game to check his watch. He’s got half an hour until Angela, Wesley, Lucy, Nolan, Nyla, James, Wade, and Luna are supposed to be here for dinner. Although Tim doesn’t remember whose decision it was to meet for an “end of the hardest week this year” dinner, he agreed to come. When he arrived nearly an hour early because he had nothing better to do, he found a seat at the bar and got invested in a game.

The restaurant isn’t busy, but the bar is nearly at capacity. It seems that everyone who wasn’t arrested this past week is now here, watching football and listening to updates on you. Every chance the announcers and reporters get, they bring you up. Tim refuses to change his opinion until he sees you in action. Your highlight reel has become an hourly regular on ESPN, but you’ll have to get through training and into next season before any of it will truly matter.

“What do you think about it?” the bartender asks as he wipes the spot beside Tim.

“I think we won’t know until we see her play,” Tim answers. “If we see her play.”

“My boss is convinced she’ll lead them to the Super Bowl, but I don’t think it’ll be that straightforward.”

“It never is,” Tim agrees.

“I also think it’s a little strange they don’t show her face. She was at the draft, but everything since then has been her in her uniform or at least her helmet.”

Someone yells for the bartender, and he nods at Tim before he walks away. It is strange, but Tim assumes that they’re trying to maintain the public image of you as a football player, and not just a woman.

As you enter the restaurant, you receive a text from your friend. Running late, so don’t have fun until I get there. You shake your head at the short message and ask the hostess for a seat at the bar while you wait. She points you toward the entrance, and you focus on finding a seat and avoiding any unnecessary spills as you navigate the crowded area.

“Excuse me?” you ask a man seated at the bar. “Can I sit here for just a few minutes?”

He turns toward you and nods, and your responding smile isn’t only gratitude. The man is incredibly attractive, you realize. As you sit on the stool beside him, you notice his attention is on the television screens over the bar. Several of them are broadcasting college football games, yet you see your name appear in the closed captions.

“Which game looks the best?” you ask him.

“Penn State and Missouri game isn’t bad,” he answers.

“Missouri’s better, I assume.”

“Aren’t they always?” he asks lightly.

Penn State’s coach calls a time out and you ask the bartender for a glass of water as the screen changes to the commentators. One of them mentions a play you made in college, and you roll your eyes. You don’t mind the attention, but they’re taking what should be about the players playing now and making it about you. The man beside you scoffs, and your smile grows.

“It never ends,” he mumbles under his breath, and he spins his bottle in one hand.

“Tired of hearing about her?” you ask.

“I mean, I don’t want to sound like every other man in this city, but, yeah, a little.”

“I get that. Skepticism isn’t a bad thing; you can have an opinion.”

“I’m just not sure I can have an opinion until she starts playing. Yeah, her college history was good, but she’s not in college anymore.”

“Right,” you agree.

“There’s a reason there hasn’t been a woman in a sport that intense. Injuries would be detrimental to her and the team,” he points out. “Not to mention the fact that we’ve only seen the good, every time someone tries to mention something she can’t do well, they get cut off with don’t judge her because she’s a woman.”

“Not that I don’t agree with the injury thing, but, I mean, women have been playing rugby for years and it’s just as intense.”

“Yeah, but that’s with other women. Seems like there’s just too much at stake for one girl to make history in the NFL. She hasn’t even proved anything yet other than the fact that women can be drafted.”

“And you don’t think she can prove more?” you ask. “Skeptical that she makes it through the next part?”

He lifts his glass and shrugs, which you take as a firm yes.

“I played football in high school,” he adds. “And I feel like I can see talent when it’s there. She has talent, I’m not arguing that, but I don’t see NFL-worthy talent yet.”

Someone says your name, and you turn. It’s a college-aged girl, and she smiles shyly as she asks for a picture. You immediately agree and slide out of your seat to hug her and take the picture.

As you pose with her, you notice that the man beside you is staring at his bottle with his lips pressed together. Maybe you should have introduced yourself the moment your name came up, but you wanted to hear the truth. And the fact that he didn’t just say no, she can’t do it gave you a boost of hope that you can. Skepticism is better than complete doubt.

“Sorry,” you tell him as you return to the stool beside him.

“No, I’m sorry,” he replies quickly. “I probably should have recognized you, but what I said- I mean, you’ve got talent, and I shouldn’t have said that you didn’t. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” you interrupt with a laugh. “I needed someone to be honest to my face for once.”

“You’re getting plenty of direct negative opinions,” he points out. “And I’m sorry.”

“Now you’re apologizing for every other football fan. Seriously, it’s no problem, no hard feelings.”

“But I-“

“You’re a cop, right?” you interrupt, gesturing to the badge on his hip. He nods, and you answer, “Truth and justice is your thing. You made some good points, too. I’ll use ‘em in my training to prove all the other skeptics wrong.”

“Which I believe you can! Seriously, though, can I buy you a drink or something? Anything to make it up to you?”

“Make what up?” you question, smiling as you lay your hand over his forearm. “I forgive you if that’s what you need to hear, but you didn’t do anything worth apologizing for.”

You move your hand to offer a handshake and properly introduce yourself. He inhales deeply before he shakes your hand.

“I’m Tim Bradford,” he says.

“And you’re a cop, I play football,” you finish. “Now that we know each other, can I ask what you’re doing here alone?”

“Guy like me in a place like this?” he jokes. “I’m waiting to meet some friends from work.”

You nod and say, “I’m meeting a friend, too. A little celebration of sorts.”

“Can I ask a personal question?”

“Sure,” you agree.

“What made you get into football? Why it over any other sport?”

“Bear Bryant,” you answer seriously.

“Really?” Tim questions with his eyes narrowed.

“You’ll have to watch my ESPN special to find out. That or we could do this again another time, without the accidental meeting.”

“People are going to think you’re in this sport just to meet men,” Tim replies.

“Who says I’m not?” you tease. “But, seriously, you’re great, and I bet you could tell me how to win a Super Bowl.”

“You’re the football pro,” he points out. “I’m just a cop.”

You nod and look away, disappointed by his implied rejection. Suddenly, though, you remember what your agent told you.

“Well, if you don’t want to go on a date… I do need a bodyguard on my security team.”

Tim’s eyebrows raise as he turns in his seat to face you. “Are you serious?”

“I am.”

You look away when your friend calls your name, and you wave at her before you stand. Stalling at Tim’s side, you add, “Think about it. I’d love to flirt with a bodyguard.”

“I will,” Tim promises softly.

“Come find me if you decide tonight.”

You smile at Tim and grip his arm kindly in place of a farewell. Tim Bradford believes in you and is considering your offered position of bodyguard, so you know you can get a Super Bowl ring this year. No matter how skeptical everyone else is.

[meanbossart]

Ask Compilation: Advice, influences and Misc.

Apologies for taking so long on some of these, admittedly I'm much more likely to entirely forget about asks that are about me and my interests 💃 Thank you for all the questions regardless! And thank you specially to everyone who just drops nice messages into my inbox out of kindness.

I'm brazillian and a native portuguese speaker!

I'll probably return to twitter eventually, but a) I hate that place and b) It didn't make much sense to me to turn it into a BG3 account out of the blue. I am considering making an Instagram or a new twitter just to have more places where people can follow in case they don't care for tumblr, but it's just been a very busy year so far and so that's kind of low on the list of priorities. If I ever do that I'll be sure to announce it here. Have a nice day yourself!

Sorry to hear that! I've gotten a few messages before about this issue, and the problem is that since I am myself not from the US, my options are also limited :( a lot of patreon alternatives don't work for me because they either don't go through paypal, take insane currency conversion fees, or just straight up block me from signing up.

Speak for yourself, I just assume everyone I speak to online has committed some sort of atrocious crime until proven otherwise. Except for me - of course. I have never done anything bad in my life.

I still have a lot to learn! But I will basically use whatever works for me at the moment, as well as make a sincere effort to learn about musculature and anatomy so I can understand those components and how they move, instead of only knowing what they look like when still - that's how you get better at drawing from memory. Volume mostly comes from coloring and understanding light, which is it's own beast but can very much be learned from similar reference materials and observing it IRL!

My favorite places to get reference are medical diagrams, weird pictures I take of myself, 3D software (often Virt-a-mate) and questionably phrased image google searches.

My favorite artists are Jason Shawn Alexander and Sean Murphy, but I'm not sure how much of it reflects in my art nowadays! I generally seek to pick up techniques from artists rather than to emulate style.

Honestly I love that you guys generally do the thing he would hate the most: take him very non-seriously LOL

I've been in a real Chelsea Wolfe and Amyl And The Sniffers kick lately! But usually you'll also find me listening to stuff like Boy Harsher, Swans, FWF, JK Flesh Lingua Ignota, Nick Cave, David Bowie, and so on. Music for the weird gays, basically.

I went insane and wrote a 23-chapter-long-and-still-ongoing fic in like four months. But also - I'm not that good, I'm just shamelessly pretentious LOL

Hm. That's a good question, but I'm not really sure. Sincerely not trying to be a edgier-than-thou here (in fact, this has made me a little self conscious at one time or another) but a lot of art that I don't mean to be horror-y in nature at all has been associated with the genre. So perhaps I don't know what I'm doing either, LOL.

I think just leaning on making things look slightly "wrong" or "ugly" on purpose is the way, but I also find that if you just seek to depict people as they are instead of idealized versions of themselves, you will arrive at that either way.

Thank you for reading! Honestly, I'm guilty of having not read much at all since I was in my late teens, and the style I'm employing for ANE is very different from the things I would call "influential" for me, or even that I used to enjoy reading at all before. I read a lot of Chuck Palahniuk as a youth (and, no slight to people who do like him still, but nowadays I'm not sure why I ever did. His stories don't speak to me at all anymore) as well a lot of weird experimental lit that I didn't even care to remember the name of. My last book stint from one or two years ago was composed solely of historical and medical literature, and last year I got really into Cormac Mcarthy thanks to the internet.

So, all in all, I'm absolutely all over the place LOL if you put a gun to my head and told me to list my favorite books, I'd say The Indifferent Stars Above and Blood Meridian.

(Consider the reading portion of the question to have been answered above) I really really liked Beau is Afraid and think it's a really great "horror" movie. Sue me.

[booksinmythorax]

So you're an adult who wants to start reading for fun, but you don't know where to start

I'm a librarian, and I hear at least once a week from people who sheepishly tell me that they'd love to start reading for fun (for the first time or after a long break). Here's my best advice broken down into bullet points, but start here: there is no shame in being a beginner.

-Think about what you do enjoy and start from there. So you're not a book person. Do you like movies? Television? Podcasts? Music? Tabletop games? Video games? What other media do you like and what does it have in common? Make a little list and Venn diagram that shit.

Maybe you're into stories about fucked-up families (Sharp Objects, Succession) or found families (lots of realplay TTRPG podcasts, Leverage, Avatar: The Last Airbender) or fucked-up found families (various Batman media, Steven Universe, The Good Place). Maybe you mainly watch or listen to stuff for the romance (Taylor Swift music, The Best Man, Heartstopper) or the sci-fi horror (The Magnus Archives, M3gan, Nope) or the romantic sci-fi horror (Welcome to Night Vale). And hey, maybe you're not a fictional media person at all. What do you like? What do you want to know about? World history? True crime? Home improvement? Birdwatching? Gardening? Various animals and their behavior? Human psychology? Cooking? If it's a thing, there are books about it. Start there.

Think about why you started to dislike reading. Did an adult snatch a book you thought looked cool out of your hands and say "Don't read that, it's below your reading level/above your reading level/a comic, not a real book"? Did school give you an endless parade of miserable, bleak books and tell you they were universal stories about the human condition? Or did it maybe only give you stories with saccharine, unearned happy endings, or only show you stories about straight cis wealthy abled white kids, or keep you from reading entire books at all in favor of endlessly dissecting tiny passages out of context? (For some vindication, check out "How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading" by John Holt.) Did you have an older sibling or a friend who was better at reading? Did adults put you in competition with that other kid and make you feel like shit about it? Were you in a situation where you were good at reading in one language, or even more than one, but required to read in another that you were still learning? Did this make you feel like you were "behind schedule" or like you shouldn't read at all? Or was reading just harder for you than it seemed for other people? Did reading give you headaches? Did the letters or numbers seem to float around on the page? Was it hard for you to focus for long enough to get through a whole book? Did you need to learn to read differently than the kids around you could? Did adults punish you for this instead of helping you? (Look, I'm not a doctor, but if any of these apply to you, consider going to an optometrist, a psychologist, and/or a psychiatrist to talk about these things if they're persistent and interfere with your life.) Or maybe you're burned out on reading. Maybe you did an advanced degree in literature or writing or history or some other reading-heavy discipline and you're just tired. Maybe your professors or classmates got snobby about what constituted "literary" works and their good opinion didn't line up with what you actually enjoy. You get to be sad and angry about these things, if they happened to you. They're also clues to how to move forward if you'd like to read more, or enjoy reading more.

Give yourself permission to read whatever you want, in whatever way you want. Wanna start with young adult books? Middle grade books? Awesome. Many of them have stories that are sophisticated and complex. Starting with re-reading the first books you enjoyed reading could help jog your memory about why you initially found it fun. Hell, even picture books are a good start. Have you read a picture book lately? Those things are getting cooler every day. Comics and graphic novels? Those count as reading. Many of them are published for adults, though again, the ones published for a middle-grade or young adult audience are often complex and moving. If you're an anime fan, give manga a shot. The source material for many anime go deeper into the characters and stories, especially now that anime seasons are often truncated to 12 episodes for entire series. (The right-to-left thing is easier to get used to than you think, too.) Romance novels and mystery thrillers and science fiction and fantasy? Those count as reading. Many of the things you might have liked about the books you read as a child or a teenager are present in adult "genre" fiction, and many of the things you might despise about adult "literary" fiction (god, I hate that word, but that's another post) may be absent from those titles. E-books and audiobooks definitely count as reading, and they're often more accessible than paper books for some people. Anybody who tries to genre- or format-shame you is a dick and not worth talking to.

Go to your local library. All right, shameless self-promotion here, I'll admit it. But I promise you, if you walk into a library and say "I'm an adult, I stopped reading a while ago, and I'd like to start back up again but I need suggestions," you will make someone's day. I get asked for my opinion about books approximately once a month. I get asked how to use the printer approximately eighty-five times a day. I love helping with the printer and I'm saying that unironically, but my colleagues and I absolutely adore "readers' advisory" questions. If you come with the answers to the above questions about your preferred genres, formats, and reasons you'd like to read, it'll help the process, but most of us are trained to ask follow-up questions to get you the best possible book match. Do not apologize. You are not bothering us. It is literally part of our job. We want people to know that reading is fun, and you are a people.

[sanctus-ingenium]

any tips or stuff youve learned along the way on making a headworld "series bible" of sorts?

discord categories & channels (ft. the old working title of Where Hate Rules because i forgot to change it). i have a discord server with just me in it where I have a channel category for each writing project.

scroll down for a spreadsheet data blast

General - image dump, place to throw in new ideas so I don't forget them, plot points, etc

Worldbuilding - this is for stuff that's set in stone, not vague concepts. maps, diagrams, etc (i have a lot of diesel engine block diagrams and celestial illustrations in there as well as every holy beast)

Character log - literally just a list of characters. put in every character in the same format (i.e Name, Age, Profession, Physical Description, Hometown)

Writing Place - for prose. I write in libreoffice but when I'm out of the house on mobile or just doing test paragraphs they go here because I'd rather kill myself than use google docs ever. Each new piece of writing has an easily-searched title.

After this I have a channel for every main character. In here I put art relating to them, backstory, motivations, any random thoughts I have about them and so on. You don't wanna see how many of these I have for my Inver channel category lmaoo.

No, there are better ways to visualise Inver's absolutely massive series bible!

Discord is obviously only useful if you're online and I don't like storing so much shit in the cloud. And what if I need rows AND columns?

man i love spreadsheets. zoom in and get a load of that sweet sweet fossit guide.

this is me kissing microsoft excel with tongue to produce a datasheet about the modern-day ranger barracks in Inver (year 2017, Pascal's time) but any spreadsheet program will do. Even (gag) google sheets. I made this because in the modern era, rangers are ecologists! They participate in land management as well as faery relations.

Okay so. First thing you want to do is freeze the top row so that it remains in place when you scroll. Then populate the boxes. Here, each ranger organisation (column 1) is given its own bg colour based on its main tartan colour so visual reference is easy. The characters tab is similar - frozen top row with basic categories, then a colour-coded list of rangers.

I have one of these for 1800s Inver as well! Luckily I only had to do the habitats once since they didn't change much over the years.

Hopefully that helps?? Basically: if you're lazy and need to generate ideas and data on the go, pick discord. If you want to be more specific, make a spreadsheet or 6.

[starlightseraph]

honoured to have been summoned, comrades 🫡

@dtmsrpfcringe

those screenshots are truly unhinged.

- ever heard of candid photos? ones that aren't posed or staged to have the person look a specific way? ones that capture the essence of a moment and have a more organic feel? ones that can celebrate the mundane? is it abnormal for family/ friends/loved ones to take candid in-the-moment pictures? no. or if it is, then i guess everyone i know, all the people i've seen doing this, and every person who's ever posted a non-posed photo of their loved one is a creep.

- appreciation and kindness for everyone but him? let me refer you back to this: "happy birthday to the best person most of us will ever know. the kindest of people, the cleverest of people, the funniest of people and the best dad of (many) people. sometimes i wonder what i do to deserve him..." and this is only a selected example, not an exhaustive list.

- hijacking his party and refusing to acknowledge that it was his? the card they posted was literally for a combined party. a 90th birthday, and given that david's not 90, but he's in his early 50s while she's almost 40, and it's not anywhere near either of their real birthdays, it's fairly obvious that it was meant for both of them. as you would know, if you payed attention to the goddamn card.

- normalising abuse? girl where. you have no knowledge of their private communication and boundaries, what they've talked about/agreed on, what they find mildly annoying and what they are genuinely upset by. poking fun, egging on, banter, all are perfectly healthy. if he's truly disturbed by anything, it is his responsibility to communicate that, and her responsibility to respect it. but these interactions are normally not public. they've almost certainly discussed social media sharing outside of the few snippets we've seen. it's fairly safe to assume, then, that any conversations they've had on-camera apply to those specific instances. "not right now" as opposed to "not ever". and a reminder that we literally do not know these people. you can't draw a diagram of an entire house by peering through a few windows.

- about the criminal offence bit, i can tell you, with absolute certainty, that no one is going to report anyone to the police for taking a candid photo in a kitchen. i promise, it's not illegal, by any stretch of the law, for a wife to take a photo of her husband standing at a counter. it may be technically illegal in some places to distribute those photos without the person's consent, but we, as outsiders, have no way of knowing and therefore shouldn't assume that she didn't get consent. i have several lawyers in my very close family, and i can already hear the legalese they’d break into to counter this argument.

the most important point i want to make is that they are married, and have been for a dozen years, and have known each other for years more than that. they understand each other, they probably know each other better than anyone. they certainly know each other better than we do. when you get to that point with someone, you generally don't need to confirm every single thing you do. in most cases, you can get a sense of what's ok and what's not. it's possible that georgia has some difficulty with that, as she's neurodivergent, but in that case the boundaries just need to be clarified for her. if she's unsure, she can ask, if she's unaware, he can tell her. because human relationships go both ways, boundaries need to be communicated, understood, and consistently adjusted. only then are they even tangible concepts that can dictate social interactions. and smaller things or individual moments can exist freely, without a giant rubric attached. they're both adults, they both have agency, and they both have access to support. trust that they're making good choices for themselves and each other, because you have no real reasons to think otherwise.

[therobotmonster]

Why the Murder-Bear Restaurant Keeps Re-Opening

A speculative Fic.

"Are you concussed?"

Rich looked up from his laptop. "Not that I'm aware."

"Forty-five million!" Stan huffed. "I go to a conference for one weekend and you invest us forty-five million into a murdered kid restaurant!!?"

"No, I sank forty-five million into THE murdered kid restaurant."

"That is not the point and you know it. To pay out the company has to exist. Half the locations are very famously burned to the ground."

"It's called venture capital not the sure thing express." Rich was smirking the way he did when he was going to be unbearably right. "Only this time it might well be the latter."

"What do you mean? It's a D-list nostalgia brand at best, without the murders and kidnappings and ghosts that are probably gas leaks driving night watchmen to acts of arson."

"No, you've got it all wrong. It's not a restaurant and its not an IP brand. Those are the loss leaders." Rich turned the laptop around. On the screen was a diagram of a robotic skeleton inside a vague mascot-character shape. "It's the most advanced robotics research lab in the United States, and all of it directed to one goal."

"Ooo! I know this one!" Now it was Stan's turn to be smug. "Pulverizing little Billy and Suzie between hydraulic jaws! No, wait, don't tell me-"

"Very mat-"

"-brand new innovations in reducing the size of the workforce. Literally. By having them compacted by a jukebox that has grown-ass-man-crushing-strength for some reason."

"That's the point. Why give the robot band the ability to walk around? Why make them strong enough to do more than lift a prop guitar?"

"Man's hubris?"

"No. I've looked over the patents, the whole sales document bundle... they were beta testing having them work as wait staff. They could recognize and converse with customers, heck, if these documents are even mostly exaggerated they were halfway to getting them to cook the damn pizza."

"Robot labor." Stan whispered. The whole picture came into focus. "Beta tested in the most chaotic, emotionally tumultuous environment possible, with the least cooperative customer base imaginable."

"If the dancing bear can handle a six year old's birthday party, it can handle the returns desk at the Lady Foot Locker. Exactly." Rich forced a solemn expression on his face. "While the alleged tragedies around the company are crushing-"

"Phrasing"

"-saddening. It would be an even greater tragedy if that work resumed with someone other than us reaping the rewards." Rich's smile returned. "Thus my executive decision."

"If we get haunted, I'm blaming you."

--

"What do you mean the ghosts are real?"

"Yeah, of all the bullshit in the papers, that part tracks. Go figure."

"Rich, you know what I mean."

"Alright, well, apparently the previous owners' idea of a coverup was to blab everything and let the ridiculous story debunk itself." Rich was looking over reams of blueprints. Old fashioned, drawn-on-paper blueprints for machines more advanced than MIT's best efforts. "And part of the story that was true was the ghosts."

"How-" Stan paused, pushing down the first phrasing that came to mind. "-do you even know that?"

"Well, we had the tech boys build a copy of one of the robots. Same firmware, same materials, better workmanship. But the performance was never there. Beat up vintage version responds more naturally, can navigate better, is stronger."

"What, some kind of learning algowhatis?"

"No. We went through the whole inventory from all the surviving locations. Most of the robots are 'low performers', even ones that were in use longer than the ones we have here."

"Do not tell me those are the murderbots."

Stan gave a mock-sheepish shrug.

"How are they not in an evidence locker someplace?!"

"I can only assume incompetence or graft." Stan replied. "But the majority, but not all, of the robots that are high performers are from those locations."

"So your theory is that they're what, possessed?"

"Haunted, possessed, what's the difference. We know what the missing piece is."

"You son of a bitch."

"What?"

"That's why you insisted we build the new prototype store on the ruins of the old one. You didn't just build it on top of the world's only haunted murder-robot graveyard, you did it on purpose!"

"The old man didn't just invent the most advanced robot this side of Star Wars, he may have made the world's only functioning ghost trap." Stan wasn't joking. His smile wasn't the normal sarcastic one he wore day in and day out. It was a hungry smile. "So yes, for the sake of ROI, I put our new animatronic manufacturing facility and demo store on top of a valuable natural resource."

"Dead people."

"We're only 30% certain its actual souls and not some kind of psychic imprint or ectoplasmic residue."

"You made those terms up."

"Maybe, who can say? Regardless. We know our robots are missing a part, that part appears to be a ghost, whatever that means. We pack the place to the gills with robots, keep using the pure-AI versions for now, and if any units get suddenly competent we retrace its steps to find out when the blue fairy does her thing."

"And then what? We harvest the souls of the dead and make them work at the mall?"

"Hey, idle souls crush night watchmen like juice boxes. It's way better if they've got gainful employment rather than just, wandering around murdering people."

"Gainful employment? We're going to pay the robots?"

"Oh no, I mean gainful for us. And the best part, is we're the only ones who will know the secret sauce. Let our patents expire, everyone else's robots will be glorified speak-and-spells."

"While ours will be animated by grandpa's wayward essence?"

"Hey, if he didn't want to work at the Panda Express he should have gone to heaven."

[vani-candy]

After a number of personal tragedies, a young woman named Mitty leaves her home in Highwind to properly kickstart her career as a Builder in Sandrock. While she's still unsure of herself and hampered by her low self-esteem, she begins to find true happiness again as she meets the people around her. Someone who catches her eye in particular is the town's only doctor, Fang, a young man who seems just as lost as she is, if not more so. Feeling he needs companionship more than anything, Mitty vows to bring happiness to his life, little by little. However, she won't be able to suppress her growing feelings for him forever...

Swan's Treasure is my ridiculously ambitious blatantly self-indulgent personal fancomic series for My Time at Sandrock starring Fang and my OC, Mitty. I very much simply make this for fun, but this series grew much bigger than I was expecting, so I decided to make this index page to make it easier to navigate to each comic, especially since they're becoming less and less self-contained as I continue!

It is highly, highly recommended that you have played My Time at Sandrock before reading, as it is necessary to better understand the characters and story more. (I will die if i try to adapt every last piece of lore in the game, lol). That, and it is genuinely a fun game and I highly recommend it if you enjoy crafting sims + RPGs + both! As such, these comics will contain major spoilers for the game, so proceed with caution!

I may hop around to tackle story beats I may have missed or skipped over, so these are listed in chronological order.

Pushing Forward [part 1] [part 2] - Mitty leaves Highwind and moves to Sandrock to begin her career. She meets and makes several new friends, including the town's only doctor...

Earrings and Diagrams - Mitty continues to work for the people in Sandrock, which leads to her crossing paths with Fang again when X steals her earrings to try to impress CoCo.

Cheery Picnic - With some ideas from X, Mitty and Arvio invite Fang to a picnic to get to know him better. (The one that started it all!)

Mapo Tofu Weekend - After she and Fang get into a bit of an argument during a sandstorm, Mitty’s convinced he won’t want to see her again, so she’s surprised when he visits her and asks her to try the Mapo Tofu he made for her.

A PSA in Overwork (And Also Interfacing With Your Bestie's Boss) - Mi-an faints due to overwork and is ordered to take a week off by Fang. Yan uses the opportunity to shove all the commission work onto Mitty.

Doctor's Orders, Don't Interfere - A short follow up comic to A PSA in Overwork, Mitty and Fang go for a walk on a particularly hot day.

Shiny Hunting - In an effort to get them together, X and CoCo go out looking for jewels for Fang and Mitty. Things go downhill from there.

Season 2 Episode 36a Graveyard Shift - At Mort’s request, Mitty helps Fang tidy up the cemetery.

I Still Love You, Even Though I Miss You - Fang and Mitty spend the Day of Memories festival together and talk about their passed loved ones.

I’d Love More Dress Options - Fang wants to gift Mitty something, but doesn’t know what.

Painful Memory - A certain bandit attack in Sandrock triggers a harsh memory for Mitty.

She Clearly Feels Better, Doctor - A short follow up comic to Painful Memory, Mitty finishes sewing her new work outfit and shows it to Fang.

The Validity Test - Mitty gets a surprise visit from Nia. However, she seems pretty suspicious of Fang...

Regrets That Don't Disappear - Elsie asks Mitty to ask Fang about the incident that led to Logan becoming a bandit, but he won't say a word, even to her...

Bird Cage - Mitty tries to check up on Fang after their last meeting, but he seems to be doing even worse than before...

Things Changed While You Were Gone - Trudy comes back to Sandrock, noticing something has changed while she was away.

Don't Lose Your Patience - Fang listens in on a fireside meeting that quickly goes south.

Mahjong Break - Fang goes to check up on Mitty and gets roped into a Mahjong match at the Game Center.

That Legendary Mission - Mitty helps Fang with a couple errands...which also involves talking to a certain talkative rancher.

The Turning Point - Everyone gathers for a photoshoot to commemorate Little Woods, but things go south quickly...

[flamedraco]

Day 3 of Writing a Minecraft Diaries AU

I made an attempt to use lore forge to help me keep track of things but my brain recoiled so hard at information overload that I decided I'm going to stick to my tried and true method of just writing shit down in a notebook and hoping for the best. It'll help visualize family trees better if I can actually draw diagrams.

Finally finished the outline for the plot of season one, now it's just a matter of figuring out relevant information and outlining chapters, then starting to write them. Also most of the characters have been decided and their stand ins accounted for. So I'll include the cast list down below tho do be aware this could change later once I actually get around to the chapters. Again, if you don't recognize the names listed it's probably either a really obscure member of the DSMP lore, an OC, or a name I came up with for an obscure member of the lore.

If I'm going to do this I'll probably break up the seasons into their own books unless I manage to reduce season 1 down into fewer chapters. But I don't think that's going to happen since I'm already working on the outline for the seventh chapter and we haven't even gotten to the part where the werewolves are supposed to be involved. And I cut the werewolves out for fucks sake.

I'm still debating on if I even want to continue into season 2 or not. Diaries lore is massive and has a lot of moving parts, things set up in season 1 specifically for season 2 and things that I might need to remove or add. I have the plot summary but depending on what I decide to do regarding season 2 and the potential of another book...I guess that really depends on how the chapters are received and if my brain decides to stay DSMP hyperfocused for another year or so. Because if I'm trying to convert the ENTIRETY of Diaries into an AU that's probably going to be three multichapter books just on it's own and I'd probably rewrite the entirety of Season 3 since it was never finished and only had 37 episodes. This kind of project could take me an entire year, probably longer.

I do know that I want to try and do this first book tho. That's the only reason why I rewrote major plot points, have an overview, am creating chapter outlines, and have the series pulled up on my phone, two tabs of the wiki, and my doc open as I take notes with my notebook close by for if I need a new name for an OC.

There's a lot going into this planning right now. Converting Diaries into an AU is proving difficult. Especially with how certain characters change the plot and characters I'm having to cut out (if you see a certain handful of characters not mentioned I probably cut them out due to story changes). I've already had to rewrite a lot of things regarding the finale due to how I've changed the plot and the characters that are involved. Because keep in mind, just because these characters take on the role of another does not make them the same character. Wilbur is going to act as a completely different protagonist from Aphmau. Quackity is not the same type of person that Garroth is. Also if you don't see your favorite DSMP character mentioned, don't worry. There are places for them to show up if I continue into the next season with another book. And if they aren't here it's probably due to them not fitting into the roles that I needed. My choices aren't meant to offend anyone, they were made for the sake of the story and who I feel fits better where.

Take the cast list with a pinch of salt because this could always change later as I work on the chapters. And the lists themselves are taken directly from the Season 1 Character List from the Minecraft Diaries Wiki. If someone important isn't mentioned here than they'll probably still show up in the fic it's just for some reason they're missing from the Wiki. Unless I cut them. Because I did cut some characters. There's also the chance that the character mentioned in the list was NOT mentioned in the overview on the Wiki so they're a minor enough character for me to not have included them here due to not having a stand in yet. Some characters might also just be listed as unnamed because I feel like I might not mention their name.

Again: List is subject to change in the future.

ALSO: Relationships between characters may be changed due to the characters now standing in their place, for example: Kenmur and Emmalyn are a ship in Diaries, but I am not shipping Phil and Techno together in any form other than PLATONIC.

WARNING: Some characters in the cast list placement below may contain spoilers for both MC Diaries and, as such, the fic I am going to write, specifically in regards to the Shadow Knights section. Proceed at your own risk!

Cast List: MC Diaries Character Name - DSMP/OC Name

Phoenix Drop Aphmau - Wilbur Garroth - Quackity Laurence - Sapnap Nicole - Karl Emmalyn - Techno Lucinda - Hannah Brendan - Foolish Zoey - Nox Cadenza - Ena Kawaii~chan - Tina Donna - Tiffany Brian - Darius Kyle - Tristan Logan - Elderic Dale - Frankie Emma - Rosella Molly - Lydia Levin - Miriam Alexis - Alanna Zenix - Purpled Dante - Puffy

Scaleswind The Lord of Scaleswind - Unnamed Matilda - Lethia

O'khasis Zane - Dream Katelyn - Niki Jeffory - Ciaran Garte - Unamed

Bright Port Lord Burt - Lord Dawn Azura - Aliara Visher - Caradoc Paul - Johnson

Meteli Hayden - BadBoyHalo Kenmur - Phil

Wyverns Ungrth - Sgaeyl Raven - Crow

Shadow Knights Zenix - Purpled Gene - Schlatt Sasha - Samantha Vylad - Tommy Laurence - Sapnap

Other The Stranger/Aaron - Sally

If I missed someone there might be a reason for it, or I just missed them. Either way, this is the general cast you can expect to see in the book at some point or the other. Some of these are minor characters, some of them are major characters, and some are just side characters.

I think I might start work on the first chapter soon but I'll try to get more chapters outlined before I start working on the first. I want to try and get a picture in my mind of how many chapters this beast will have and how many things I can cut.

[ourlordandsaviorgojira]

Fun fact! In 2004, Neil Gaiman published ‘The Problem of Susan’ which featured explicit bestiality porn.

Yeah i know that one. I'll be real with you. Authors writing Problematique characters, events and situations does not bother me. I know everyone's freaking out about The Problem Of Susan and Snow Glass Apples like they're a smoking gun. He's also written about a prostitute getting run over until she's a pile of guts in the gutter, about kidnapping and rape, the list of horrors goes on.

I do believe it's possible for artists to approach these things with a sense of honesty and tact; the greatest goal of art I think is to create something meaningful out of horror and pain. I also believe Neil is a talentless hack who couldn't write something deeper than a puddle even if you handed him a diagram and a shovel. His only skills are writing complete sentences, patching together ideas from more interesting sources to create fangirl bait and riding on the shoulders of better artists.

Do I think the truth was there all along in his works if you just looked closely enough? Absolutely. But it's where none of his characters ever had a respectful, stable romantic relationship, where he wrote attractive women like cardboard cutouts, where he never took a stance stronger than a Tumblr version of "live, laugh, love", where he edited the scientology out of stories obviously about his own childhood. Btw did you know he was a level 8 auditor while he was writing Sandman? Fascinating factoid I think, given the comic is about a guy who can walk through and control people's dreams and lives.

Anyways, fantasy beast porn bothers me less than a creepy uncle getting his dick sucked by everyone for over three decades because he said "make good art". Thanks, I could've gotten that from a fortune cookie.

[all-things-normaler]

i wanna write fanfics but i'm not sure how to keep everyone in character and to write normal dialogue. do you have any advice? thank you!

Okay so, I've written fanfiction and roleplayed for nine years, and I know it's scary and hard at first, but eventually with enough practice, writing will become as easy as breathing air.

First thing I do is envision the scene in my mind, like a movie! What's the setting? The mood? What kind of characters are here? What's the plot? Materialize all of this in your brain and do not force yourself to make dialogue, it'll come up to you naturally. Think of yourself as the actor for all these characters, feel their emotions, study their motives, backgrounds, passions and even body mannerisms.

If you're dealing with a pairing or characters that correlate with each other, try to think. What are their similarities and opposites? Are they really all that similar or is it one or two few traits? This is where the Venn Diagram comes in! That's the method I've been taught at school, and honestly, I could make a list but the Venn Diagram helps me visualize things better. To be honest I have sharp memory to things I'm fixated in, so I don't do it physically, but it's very useful! And YES, while studying these characters annotate everything that could be useful in writing dialogue.

Do they have an accent? A lisp? Is there any vocabulary depending of where they were raised?

I have things to say about these things in dialogue and the first two are more personal and up to my taste.

Personally when people write "accents" that aren't like Country or Irish accents that actually have different words in the vocabulary, when you replace the letters to make the "sound" and in a way create new words, not only does it look messy, it IS messy to read! It's an unfortunate phenomenon in the Team Fortress 2 Fandom lol.

EXAMPLE: "Viz is not good. Vhat was a vad decision."

For these instances, use regional words and spellings for the dialogue, it says much more than what I've told you. Are they british? Use words like "favourite" instead of "favorite" etc. Trust me, the readers aren't dumb people, you can do ONE paragraph describing that your character has an accent and they would understand.

I think my gripe against that style of writing isn't only aesthetically but also because I'm bilingual (my native tongue being Spanish) so honestly, it would look a little offensive reading a fanfiction where my type of accent is typed like that.

When writing bilingual people ALSO avoid this:

Like prideling said, that one's a big example of what bilingual people do. Even in their own native language! I constantly forget to say "accurate" in Spanish lmao.

And we do not "switch" languages, we aren't Dora The Explorer. We can greet and talk normally to people. Only times I'd say bilinguals happen to jump back at their native tongue accidentally it's when they're surprised? It's happened to me, but for a very short time. Bilingual readers prefer to be represented with the struggles of knowing two languages and showcasing their culture throughout descriptive paragraphs over anything.

Anyway, moving on... DIALOGUE!

This is a classic. Do NOT get comfortable with the verb said. Try using other words like: exclaimed, announced, warned, shouted, whispered, etc!

The more you write, the more you'll learn about these verbs, adverbs and adjectives and it'll come handy tremendously. We don't want to have too much repetition do we?

I am also handing you this emotion wheel that will be incredibly useful if you're starting writing:

Speaking of repetition... Remember that thing I said about studying your characters? Try to avoid too much repetition of one word between the two characters. As you may have noticed people have a cadence and ways of speaking. If you do that a lot, people will break from the immersion and think it's you who's talking, not the character.

Another classic! SHOW, DON'T TELL.

If you're into writing, you'll probably have heard this saying before. All writers have committed this sin when they started writing, using adverbs and adjectives too obsessively instead of narrating how the character feels.

Is your character anxious? How about instead of doing:

“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck! What am I supposed to do now!?” He anxiously exclaimed.

We do...

“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He tightly gripped onto his jet black hair and ripped it from his scalp into shreds. Pain was the last thing he cared about when a bigger torture was on his mind. His chest constricted, his lungs having less oxygen filled with hot air. The corners of his eyes burned, and his brain constantly banged to the corners of his skull begging to free it from this horrible outcome. The man started to lose his senses, he couldn't smell the horrible stench from his machines, or feel the bottom of his feet anxiously walking in circles, his fingers were getting tingly and numb. Onceler couldn't even see the insides of his destroyed mansion and the deforestation he caused from his window. All of it was a blur and too much too handle, the weight of his actions fell into his mind and stomach, forever scarred and stuck like that last stump in the middle of what used to be a vibrant Truffula Tree forest.

“What am I supposed to do now!?” He scratched his knotted throat as loud as he could, ripping his vocal chords. It didn't matter if he could hear himself now, he didn't listen to his real soul in the past, and now, no one will listen to him now. No matter how much he begged for help.

Alright, that was a little big example there haha! But you get it right? Here's a picture to help you visualize better.

Mind you, the first example isn't bad to use! Just don't constantly use it. It's good to show a story throughout the actions of your character!

Alright, what else... what else... oh yes!

Be mindful of spellchecking bots!

I'll be honest to you, I do use them! They come incredibly handy because sometimes I mess up verbs or I just simply add too many spaces or create typos without meaning to! But remember that bots are bots, and at the end of the day they don't have humanity. They're AI. Therefore, these bots might make suggestions to change certain words because they don't recognize it as part of the vocabulary, but if you do click on everything they suggest, your dialogue will become very robotic and lacking of stylization. Keep those peepers open!

Use a beta reader?

I never had one. To me, writing is a very personal thing and for me to have one, they would have to share the same fandom that I'm writing of to be trustworthy. Beta Readers can be useful because they can point out mistakes other than spelling ones. Something the bots CANNOT do. They can point out weird things in dialogue, plot holes, etc.

Learn of your narration voice.

The way you narrate is your brush strokes of art but in writing! What type of a narrator are you? The unreliable type? The classic? Or just a narrator with a god complex? Have fun with that! And remember, if you want to narrate not as a narrator or yourself but as one of the characters, REMEMBER to study the character. Basically, the first tip I gave you.

Stuttering.

Don't overuse it. And we don't always stutter like: "b-b-but!" NO! Instead, try slurring the words, and adding ellipsis (the three dots ...)

Not only is it more realistic, but it looks better on writing.

This image is something I struggle with too, but it'll be useful to see it now!

Honestly, my path for writing has been rocky and I raw-dogged this shit, so it's an honor being able to help you! If you ever have any doubts keep coming here! I love to get in more depth, but I've been making this post for like an hour already!

I think that's all I can give you for now! Lots of people that have read my fanfics and roleplays have pointed out that dialogue is my forte! It's rather flattering. As always, I don't give tips or boast about my writing without evidence, so here's a snippet of a Normaler fanfic I'm writing:

“I brought you some things. Water and a towel. Hopefully that's enough.” She handed him the materials and he gladly took them, opening the water bottles and damping the towels.

“Thanks. It's tomatoes. I doubt there's a lot to get me dirty with those.” He chuckled awkwardly, before rushing to rub the towel against his cheek.

Norma smiled, raising her eyebrows.

“I take it that you're a foreigner?”

“You can tell?”

“Your accent. Yeah.” Norma stretched her legs as she sat next to him. “You're one of those cowboys?” She grinned back at the man.

The Once-ler laughed, and my... did he have a goofy laugh. Not what she expected.

“I wish. It sounds like fun, but where I come from, rural life is pretty boring.” He continued to rub the towel against his clothes.

“Greenville doesn't like foreigners.” She explained bluntly. “They always come here with bad intentions.” She furrowed her eyebrows with a teasing smirk, causing the Once-ler to dramatically gasp, a hand on his chest.

“B-But I ain't coming here with bad intentions!”

[chaoschenoo]

Queer Itch.io VN List

So IDK when I'll be able to post art again so here's another bit of content. Queer visual novels from itch.io. Not all of these are itch exclusive so you steam only? Feel free to check. Oh these will be 18+. Four things going in; 1.) Not all of these are finished. I'll be breaking it up between finished and unfinished.

2.) A lot of them are furry because the furry VN and queer VN venn diagram is a pair of nested circles.

3.) Spoilers, will be light but they will exists.

4.) Mostly MLM because that's the place I tend to live.

Coming Out On Top: 5/10

Starting with Coming Out on Top because it's the most average of the list and the quinessential baby gay VN. It's cute, fun, funny, sexy and has the depth of a brook at best. Light fun but has a couple of issues one with stereotypes, the other with power dynamics it adamantly doesn't want to think about because sexy.

Nekojishi: 6/10

Nekojishi is a bit more interesting than Coming Out on Top. Has more depth by and large but is also more fun than deep. Cute characters and while I cannot speak to cultural fidelity the husbandos are all in front of an interesting situational backdrop.

Full Service: 5/10

Similar to COoT, hot guys, sexy CGs, fun and silly moments with big personalities for the husbandos. But doesn't really explore the conflict beyond having something to spice up the romance, tempted to dock points for an infuriating mascot character.

Human Cargo: 6/10

Has a bit more going on between the ears than the baseline but the plot is still more a vehicle for the husbandos. Hot CGs, very cute, a good bit of soft moments and the romance feels at least a bit like an earned climax to the relationship.

In Case of Emergency: 8/10

So this is where we've broken the 'plot as car for husbandos' glass cieling. This is one that definitely has something more going on than date hotties. I dock a little bit of points for it being a bit hard to parse towards the end as to how interactions gets a good ending. BUT gets points for it being the start of the relationship. It feels like the MC matters to the route but not like he 'fixes' their problems. They're all on the road to a better place. Be warned a bittersweet game.

Adastra: 9/10

So I did play Echo first which makes me a bit of an oddity apparently. I think that was a part of the reason the emotions of Adastra didn't hit me quite as hard. Like I was expecting the other shoe to drop. Also since I was waiting for that I also spent much of the early game frustrated by 'Marco's' choices. That said Amicus is everything the Echo fandom wishes Leo was.

Arches: 8/10

Arches is going here before Echo for a reason despite being a nominal sequel, but also... I have so many mixed feelings here. It's an objectively good story, it makes me feel things. It's also REALLY depressing and I feel genuinely conflicted about if it's a very good or very bad representation of schizophrenia.

Echo: 10/10

Yeah I know it's the bloody posterchild for the subversive dating sim, it's also why the spoiler tag exists. Because Echo sets up as a dating sim meant to evoke nostalgia and then devolves into a psychological horror on the level of one of the classic Silent Hill games. Also Leo is the Ur-Furry Thirst Trap and the fandom shows just how terrifyingly effective he is at it. Horror and tragedy in equal measure. And at the end so I can start the unfinished list with it's prequel...

UNFINISHED: There are enough here that are so solid despite still being updated that I needed to keep the list separate. They would get points docked for not being one but I didn't want that to reflect on how evocative they are.

The Smoke Room: 10/10

The prequel and chronologically first game in the Echo Trilogy. Set one hundred years before Echo shortly before the 1915 hysteria and following Sam, a sex worker at the local Saloon. It's charming, unnerving, tragic (especially given Echo ESPECIALLY WILLIAM'S route if you know you know.) All the husbandos and side characters are delightful and charming in their own ways.

Errant Kingdom: 6/10

I would award it a higher score but between being bought, unfinished, and having been slow to update I'm worried it's a dying project. I am more sympathetic to the slow updates because every chapter is functionally three chapters as each origin point is a genuinely different story even when they are at a converging point such as the speech, or merchant's party. The art is beautiful and the characters are fun and interesting. I truly hope it's still in development.

Andromeda Six: 7/10

Also in development hell but getting slightly more updates and has a valentines day side story that is complete. Sci-fi story about an amnesiac with a crew of mercs on the wrong side of a successful coup. There's twists and turns some obvious some much less so that make it engaging. Fun romance options for straight mlm and wlw.

Repeat: 9/10

Repeat OOZES charm, it's fun, has a shockingly fun core of mystery hilarious and engaging characters. Fun and sexy CGs. And a lot of heart that makes the tragic lows hit just that much harder.

Santa Lucia: 8/10

Fun with an Echo-esque mystery and horror subplot. Engaging and been following it for a while. That said I do dock a little points for the routes not intersecting with the main plot as well as Echo which inextricably links the two. Still overall a very good time.

Socially Awkward: 9/10

Hilarious and also incredibly charming, bonus points for all the characters being incredibly similar to actual people I know. It makes the whole friend group cast likeable and realistic. Even the trash goblins like John.

Soulcreek: 9/10

Interesting, intense, one of my favorite genres, good art, but has some frustrating moments early game similarly to Adastra. Ultimately not enough to really drag it and the mystery and setting is MORE than enough to keep you clicking.

Dawn Chorus: 10/10

Okay so this one's a bit of a cheat for me. It's only a 10/10 because it's my comfort VN. Dawn Chorus is like a warm bowl of soup or cup of tea on a cold rainy day. It's cute, sweet, and character driven with an undercurrent of tragedy for many of the characters that makes you hope for the best.

Shelter: 10/10

Remember how I said Soulcreek's my facorite genre? Well so is Shelter. Fantasy that's secretly a Post Apocalyptic sci-fi. It's got mystery, uses the Visual Novel format in unique and amazing ways. Also puns, SO FUCKING MANY PUNS. The world building Raus does here drove me to dip my toes into the setting with a fic it was that inspiring.

[mono--chromatik]

hi mono its mae and i just saw your profile now and holy shit there’s lots of asks so i thought i’d ask some questions maybe

but if you do know, what are your favorite genres in music? im a huge music nerd and i NEED to know what kind of music you like,,,

get your reading glasses on you activated my trapcard (being really autistic about music)

OKAY OKAY so generally speaking there's no specific genre I tend to stick by to some religious degree. More often than not any generated playlist from wherever I'm listening from is destined to be the least consistent thing imaginable.

To generally answer this question would be trickier than just tossing a bunch of random songs at people but I'm gonna do my damn best to keep it relevant. I am gonna add some examples so I'm putting this under a read-more to keep from making the post needlessly long for passer-byers. (Some genres may not be 100 accurate, in the examples, but they're along the same lines I think).

EDM

I don't know exactly how much this description gets the point across but like, this music sounds like industrial iron, steel and bullets, and in the good way! Can't pinpoint exactly when or why but the general sound of the genre is very nostalgic to me (and in an almost comical way every artist that I've seen fall under that genre or orbit around it happens to have an incredibly deep voice 9 times out of 10. Absolutely not a complaint. Fucking gorgeous sound. Would highly recommend listening to at night outside in a lit-up city area.

NINTENDOCORE

I proceeded to make this genre into my entire personality. Surprise surprise, a lot of the music uses 8-bit sound effects to hell and back. And y'know what? Nothing scratched the itch in my brain better than that ever did.

Tumblr only allows 10 audios per post! i just learned. I'm gonna list a bunch of MISC stuff because i'm running out of steam to type.

Prophecy of the Dragon - The Voidz

Losing Touch - Circus of Dead Squirrels

Meaningless - The Nighty Nite

I Don't Wanna Be Me - Type-O-Negative

Loose Cannon - Puzzle

So Pretty - Kid Dakota

Мрак - DenDerty

Ghost - Gouge Away

Blood and Rockets - The Claypool Lennon Delirium

Guts - MATH The Band

The Air Conditioned Nightmare - Mr Bungle

A.M 180 - Grandaddy

Happy listening ! 👍

[kiwwia-wiwwia]

matt murdock songs and explanations pt. 1

most of these will be noah kahan just a heads up but I can talk about these for HOURSSSS. just me analyzing matt and some songs and making a verbal venn diagram.

song 1: No Complaints by Noah Kahan

I thought I had somethin' And that's the same as havin' somethin'

matt constantly, CONSTANTLY grasping at whatever connection he can get. foggy, father lantom, elektra, karen, claire... the list goes on. but i really see this as him and elektra. him desperately searching for goodness in her that may or may not even be there but he still so ferverently believes in her, that there's something there, something permanent, esp when he was in college.

I'd get mad at nothin', blame my dad for somethin' I pull no punches, then feel bad for months

he has. so much anger. towards himself, towards his parents, towards god... sometimes he just needs to pin the blame on something. him getting to worked up one night and doing more damage than necessary and then berating himself for it for months. got that Catholic Guilt fr

Mm, thought I was raised better, tried to fake better

impostor syndrome, anyone? he constantly feels like he's not what his dad would've wanted him to be and again, So Much Guilt is in that man. his dad didn't want him to be a fighter and that's literally All He Does. pobrecito hates himself so much for not living up to his father's expectations of him.

Tried to blame weather and escape better Hope the skin heals where the pain enters

GODDDDD THE SYMBOLYSM HERE. hope the skin heals where the pain enters. are u kidding me. i have never heard something more daredevil. the physical and emotional pain he's in constantly, the way that when things get bad for him he uses vigilantism as a form of self harm, especially in season 3 when he tries to off himself by getting those guys to kill him.

But I finally got sewed up I set a time, then I showed up Now the weight of the world ain't so bad

all the times he tries to fix his relationships. when he's destroying friendships left and right (foggy and karen), flaking on them, placing daredevil as his highest priority and then when he realizes he's being an ass he does his best to show up??? trying so hard to be better for them because they don't deserve the way he's been treating them, only for the cycle to repeat itself? oh my god.

I saw the end, it looks just like the middle Got a paper and pen and a page with no space

Him realizing every now and again that nothing changes, the city will always have a new threat and his work will never be done. everything stays the exact same. the end looks just like the middle. GOD.

I filled the hole in my head with prescription medication And forgot how to cry, who am I to complain?

he does self medicate, just not with substances. his drug is being daredevil. he gets frustrated? daredevil. sad? daredevil. angry? daredevil. that's his only outlet, the only time he feels like he's truly being himself. and that man represses so aggressively and feels like he has no right to feel the way he does. again, catholic guilt. "other people have it worse" NO matt. you are in hell.

And now the pain's different It still exists, it just escapes different And evades vision, makes the rain different Makes the news boring and my rage distant

when he gets bad, he gets BAD. mf is depressed. depressed squared. everything dulls around him, he's feeling things at an arms length.

Yes, I'm young and living dreams In love with being noticed and afraid of being seen

his playboy side loves the attention he gets, especially in college, but he's terrified of someone truly knowing him. sure, get close on a surface level, but he's so guarded about anyone fully and wholly knowing him. he's terrified of losing more people.

But I can finally eat and I can fall asleep It's fine, fine, fine

denial is a river in egypt. he's Fine, he swears. everything is Normal and he is Functioning. everything is FINE. but it's not. hes a mess and he's barely holding it together and the only thing he's trying for is the people around him so when he's alone because he pushes everyone away it's dangerous. he doesn't have to keep up appearances, he can just rot away and daredevil until he gets too injured even though he'll probably keep going after that.

thank you for your time this has been me psychoanalyzing my husband

[javathewildone]

One Day - Heartland AU (Part 34)

Parts: 33, ... 35

People watching was a hell of a pastime. You could learn so much about an individual as well as overall human nature by just observing behaviors and mannerisms of fellow man. Amy spent a great deal of the evening doing just that from her place at the wooden picnic table. She chatted with Soraya for a majority of the time who introduced her to a few of her own friends that showed up, but aside from Ty and Jack, she knew no one well enough to engage in deep conversation. She learned Jack and Lisa were a true opposites attract love story based simply on the clash of rustic cowboys and posh equestrians mingling in the yard. It wasn’t a huge crowd, but enough to make it easy for her to become invisible. 

Wherever Lisa drifted in the crowd, Jack wasn’t far behind. Amy wondered if he even noticed how he gravitated toward his wife. She found herself spending a lot of time watching them interact within the venn diagram of their marriage. It was as fascinating as it was inspiring. Amy knew better than to believe in the fairytale she imagined for their love story without even knowing all of it. Jack’s brooding while Lisa was gone for those few months said a lot. She was sure that was probably the root of some arguments over the years. So far as Amy understood, Heartland was Lisa’s home base, but she still owned and operated quite a lucrative farm of her own not far from there, as well as her breeding investments in France. 

Feeling eyes on her, Amy’s gaze drifted toward Caleb who grinned and waved, beckoning her over. He arrived not long after Lisa to set up the music, getting into an argument with Soraya over the playlist he was supposed to send her yesterday but didn’t. Amy kept out of what felt like a lover’s quarrel, though spent much of the afternoon waiting for the tension to snap between him and Jack. Caleb didn’t entirely ignore his old boss, but there was clear animosity in their curt pleasantries. They hadn’t spoken a word in the last couple hours since the party came into full swing.

Sighing, Amy stood and wandered over, figuring she could use another drink anyway. 

“You looked a bit lonely sitting there. Wanna give it a try?” Caleb lifted the headphones from his ears and held them open for Amy, who hesitated. 

“I really have no idea what I’d be doing.”

Caleb only shrugged and dropped the headphones over her head. “Neither do I, really. But I sure look cool doing it.” 

Amy resisted the urge to roll her eyes while she shifted over in front of a control board that looked like a complicated network of dials and buttons all backlit by neon LEDs. The entire thing was hooked up to a laptop where Caleb’s Soraya-approved playlist displayed. 

“So, I just pick a song?” She scrolled through the list. “Then what?”

Reaching around Caleb explained the Cue and Sync buttons, allowing her to mess around with the transitioning of songs further down the track. Then he tapped the large round platter in the middle, indicating to her to spin it. She jumped, laughing as the track scratched like an old school record. It was a cool device to mess around with but after two songs she’d had her fill and handed Caleb back his headphones. “Thanks, that was neat.”

“Anytime,” he grinned. “So how are you liking Hudson?”

Amy looked out toward the crowd. At Lisa who was in the middle of regaling a small group with a story and Jack who smiled warmly while he listened. At Soraya who was laughing at something her friend Jen showed her on her phone. Then her eyes landed on Ty leaning up against the fence sipping from a red solo cup  and nodding absently at something their vet, Scott, was saying. “It’s not exactly what I expected.” Was it a surprise to hear Ty spent time in prison? Yeah. But could she believe it? Also, yeah.

“Is that good, or bad?”

Amy shrugged. “Both. But I’m here for the foreseeable future so I just have to take it in stride, I suppose.” Her attention lingered on Ty while she answered, which she only realized when he glanced up to find her looking in his direction. Blinking, Amy turned away to give Caleb a smile. “So what do you do when you’re not-” She mimed scratching a record, missing the way Ty’s expression hardened at the ease with which Amy was able to be so close to Caleb when she could barely stand to be within three feet of anyone else. He didn’t get it. Then reminded himself that there were a lot of unknowns when it came to Amy. He just wished it didn’t annoy him so much to be left in the dark. 

“I’m a rodeo stock contractor,” Caleb replied, moving around tracks on the controller to keep the playlist running.

“I have no idea what that means,” Amy shook her head, passing a sideways glance toward Ty who was no longer against the fence. Her head swiveled to find where he wandered off to but Caleb’s explanation demanded her attention. 

“The short of it is I buy roughstock for rodeos. Broncs, bulls, steer. Ever been?” 

Amy’s brow lifted. “To a rodeo? No. Coming to Heartland is the first time I’ve been within touching distance of a horse.”

“Well, we’ll have to get you to one some time.” His smile was wide, genuine. Amy once again wondered if this was him flirting or merely trying to make friends. Her attention moved to Soraya. No way was she about to let herself get involved in another undefined, yet clearly drawn relationship. 

“Uh, yeah, I’ll tag along with Soraya next time she goes.” The name drop was intentional. She needed to gauge Caleb’s reaction to the idea of Soraya potentially cock-blocking his chances. 

“Alright, awesome.” Caleb merely continued grinning, seemingly oblivious to his questionable signals. 

Amy let out a breath, more confident now that he was merely just trying to be nice. Otherwise, he probably would have preferred she went alone, right? “That BBQ is calling my name again. Thanks for-” she waved a hand over the table, smiling as she stepped away toward the cooler to grab another can of ginger ale on her way back to the food table. As great as Maggie’s chili was, Stumpy’s pork barbeque was going to undoubtedly turn into a craving. She idly wondered if she could get Jack to talk him into making a large enough batch for her to freeze. 

The music quieted as Caleb changed to a slower song, increasing the volume instead on the cacophony of conversation.

“You and Caleb looked pretty buddy-buddy.”

Dropping the tongs with a clatter, Amy shot Ty her signature glare. Pop-up book from hell, indeed. “Jealous?” Stupid thing to conclude, but why else would Ty care that she was talking to Caleb?

“Because you seem perfectly fine with him hovering in your personal space? No. Just curious as to why.” Grabbing for a plate, Ty put himself deliberately in her space when he had to lean near her to reach. 

Amy stilled at the closeness, but otherwise didn’t flinch away. Her jaw tightened when Ty purposely lingered inside her invisible fence for a few seconds longer than necessary. She breathed again when he leaned away, though still watched her closely while waiting for some kind of response. 

“What are you even talking about?” She avoided eye contact while loading a bun with a heap of barbeque.

“You know what I’m talking about,” Ty insisted quietly, taking the tongs when she shifted down for the cole slaw. 

“No,” Amy replied sharply. “I don’t.” She continued shuffling down the length of the buffet, putting distance between them that Ty continued breaching. 

“Okay. Pretend you didn’t jump out of your skin that day you ran into me in the barn. Or how you freeze any time someone even comes close to touching you. That is if you don’t jerk away first.” He kept his voice low enough for only her to hear, glancing around them to ensure no one else was close enough to eavesdrop. He might want answers, but the whole town didn’t need to know their business. 

“Oh.” Reaching the end of the table, Amy grabbed a napkin. “Yeah, see there is this little thing called boundaries. I like mine.” Nevermind the fact that he cornered her and scared her half to death once already.

“Right.” Ty shook his head but didn’t push. Amy gave him a look as if asking if that was all before returning to her spot at the picnic table where she’d been pretty much all evening. 

Gathering his plate, Ty nearly walked right into Kit when he turned around. Her appearance startled him, figuring by now she didn’t plan on showing up. “Ah, hey.” The tension was palpable as she gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Hey.” “Did you just get here?” “Not long ago, I-” she paused. “I wasn’t sure if I was even going to come.” Understandable. Selfishly, Ty hoped she wouldn’t have if only to avoid this awkward encounter. “Well, Lisa will be happy to see you and there’s plenty of food.”

The disappointment on Kit’s face at Ty’s reply was clear, but he didn’t know what she expected to happen. Claiming he was glad to see her would be a lie and would probably lead to yet another misunderstanding.  Saving her dignity, Kit didn’t push  for a conversation that would likely end the same as their last. Even she knew now wasn’t the best time. “She was, yeah. It’s nice to have her back.”

Ty nodded in agreement. A strained silence spread between them before Kit broke it. “I’m just, uh, gonna grab a plate to go. I really only came for Stumpy’s barbeque.”

Though he didn’t fully believe that, Ty chuckled. “I promise not to tell Lisa.”

Kit’s laugh was strained. “Thanks.” 

“Have a good night, then,” Ty said, finding no reason to continue lingering. “Hey,” Kit said, stopping him. “Do you think we could try our last conversation again? Maybe over coffee?”

And there it was. “You’re the one who drove away, Kit.” After pretty much accusing him of having a relationship with Amy of all people. “I know and I realize that maybe I wasn’t being fair. I want to have a chance to get everything out in the open.” “I told you everything,” Ty insisted. “You didn’t want to hear it.”

Pressing her lips together, Kit’s chin trembled like she was trying to hold back tears. “I’m sorry. I heard the gossip and it struck me off guard. I’m ready to listen.”

Maybe it was his perpetual guilt over how he treated Kit white he was gone, but somehow Ty found himself agreeing. “Okay. Sure.” 

Kit let out a relieved breath. “Great. I’ll call you tomorrow?”

“Um, sure, yeah.” Unfortunately, he couldn’t use the inmates as an excuse over the weekend. He didn’t know see how yet another discussion of his fuck ups and lack of communication would change anything, but he backed himself into this corner on his own and now he needed to see it through. —-------

Flustered and having lost his appetite, Ty joined Amy at the picnic table. Amy lifted her eyes slowly from her plate, narrowing them with suspicion when Ty sat across from her. There were plenty of other places for him to sit. Like with Kit, for instance. But he wasn’t paying her any attention, instead watching Kit at the buffet so Amy went back to eating.

“I think I messed up.” Ty said suddenly. Amy glanced up then around, wondering if he was talking to someone else. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

“With Kit.” 

Amy sat up straighter, putting her hands up. “Uh, uh. Your girlfriend, your problem. I’m not getting involved with your lover’s quarrel again.” Last time it was accidental, she sure as hell wasn’t about to do it by choice.

Ty scoffed, turning back toward Kit only to find her gone. “That’s fair.” 

“Damn right it is,” Amy grumbled before shoveling a forkful of food in her mouth. 

Pushing his plate back, Ty stood and reached his hand over the table. “Let’s dance.”

The dumbfounded look Amy gave him was almost comical with a mouthful of barbeque. “Wh-what?” “Dance.” He wiggled his fingers at her. Amy stared at his hand while she swallowed her bite of food. “I-I don’t-”

“If you don’t know how that’s fine, you’ll learn if you’re here long enough.” They were invited to and hosted enough gatherings that Amy would have ample opportunity. The shock wore off to be once again replaced with suspicion. “Why are you being nice all of the sudden?” Because he was trying to test a theory. Instead of answering, Ty merely continued to stare her down with his hand out in invitation. 

“What about Kit?” Amy asked, looking around the yard at the gathering of people. She was grasping at straws now. 

“I don’t see her, do you?” In a way he was relieved for that, though probably wouldn’t have asked if she was still there. That was something he’d have to unravel with himself later, preferably before he had coffee with Kit. “Besides, it’s not like you guys are in competition.”

Amy frowned, unsure how to take that comment. Ultimately, she decided he was right. She wasn’t vying for Ty’s affections, so if Kit wanted to lay claim she could do so without a fight. Amy just didn’t want to be accused of something she didn’t do. Out of excuses, Amy sighed and got up. She didn’t accept Ty’s hand but walked around the table to join him on the patch of grass designated as a dance floor. Amy still hesitated when Ty held his hands up again for her to take. She chewed the inside of her cheek feeling the regret sinking in. She should have declined. Giving herself into his hands put her in a place she might not be able to escape. “We don’t have to.” Ty said, though kept his hands open in front of him. Amy glanced at the people around them. Witnesses in all directions. Then she placed her palm against Ty’s, sucking in air when his fingers curled around her hand, the other finding her waist, connecting them together. She placed her free hand on his shoulder. 

He moved and she nearly tripped over his feet in her distraction. Then stiffened in his grasp when his hold tightened to steady her. “Wow, you are pretty bad at this, aren’t you?” He teased, covering up the fumble and trying to take her mind away from her fear. She was a ball of solid anxiety in his hands, her movements stiff and her attention somewhere other than him. His voice focused her attention, though, and when Ty moved again, Amy matched his steps. “Not many opportunities to dance in the city.”

“I seem to recall Vancouver having a stellar nightlife. Though they’re not necessarily dancing the two-step.” Amy knew all about Vancouver’s club scene. Being a college student made it almost mandatory to spend weekends on the town or suffer FOMO come Monday. Freshman year was the time to explore and experiment. To live and learn before getting serious in the next few years. Live was precisely what Amy did, but the lesson learned was harsher than she ever expected. Ty sensed Amy’s mind drift when her eyes stared over his shoulder. “I take it the club scene wasn’t really your thing.”

“Not really,” she answered quietly. It was too loud, too crowded. Too many bodies grinding up against one another beneath strobing lights that only succeeded in giving her a headache. Yet her decision to leave put her in more danger than staying would have wasted her night. Leaving in a group was always safer than alone. The memory caused anxiety to bleed through her veins, her heart leaping into a sprint. Ty could feel her tense further, her hand sweating in his. Looking in her eyes, her pupils dilated to nearly consume the bright blue iris. She jerked away from him, her mouth opening to allow larger airflow as panic began to consume her. “Amy, hey.” Ty didn’t move, merely tried to get her to focus on him. He learned his lesson with trying to touch her when she was in this state. “Hey, you’re okay. Look at me.” Blinking, Amy glanced up at Ty’s worried expression. Shaking her head, she looked for a break in the crowd. “This was a bad idea.” Spotting one, she bolted through it, nearly plowing into Lisa. “Whoa, hey.” Seeing the frightened look on Amy’s face stopped Lisa in her tracks. “Amy?” Feeling her lungs constrict, Amy was barely able to murmur an apology as she darted for the house, desperate to place a solid barrier at her back. Lisa turned to watch her leave, grabbing a hold of Ty when he tried to follow. “What’s going on? Is Amy alright?”

Ty paused, looking toward the house just as the front door shut behind Amy. “I don’t know. She, uh, she got spooked by something.”

“Oh? By what?”

By him. Again. Proving his theory. “Grandpa didn’t tell you?” Of all the things, Ty would have thought Ty’s theory would have been among the first things he clued her into if for no other reason than to ensure Lisa treaded lightly. 

“Tell me…?” Jack got her up to speed on quite a bit since she got back, including the heated rivalry that caused so much trouble between Ty and Amy since she arrived. Judging from the way they were just dancing, Lisa figured they found a way to smooth things over. Perhaps not. 

Sighing, Ty didn’t know if now was the best time to discuss Amy’s questionably dark past with Lisa, but someone needed to talk Amy into opening the likely locked door and she was probably the best person to do it.

[okodnol]

Answering Hazbin Hotel Questionnaire in Great Details

from nayla (@misfirerules) on twitter

☆ who’s your favorite character?

Alastor and Vaggie (one was instant and the other slowly grew on me and now i legit can't choose)

Alastor is a trickster with standards, he punches up, confronts bullies, but honestly he's just so cute i automatically forgive him any crimes. Bonus points for helping me realize being affectionate with friends doesn't ruin your bad boy persona, it shows you're secure in it. Don't redeem him it's demon cruelty!

Vaggie is a tragic reformed soldier who desperately tries to repent for her war crimes; the juxtaposition of regular tough attitude and complete guard dropping for Charlie endeared me to her a lot. 'Whatever it takes' came up and i was like oooowww~

Also this scene before the final battle where she tells other hotel residents to save themselves cause "We.. I can't protect you anymore". She CARES

The funny thing is that Vaggie and Alastor share that strong preference to only socialize with women (me too! i feel so seen!) but CAN'T STAND each other

☆ what’s your favorite song from the soundtrack?

Stayed Gone and Hell's Greatest Dad, obviously. I also composed the complete tier list (i feel SO BAD for placing It Starts with Sorry this low):

Stayed gone | Dad beats dad

You didn't know | Ready for this | Finale (big musical theatre ones)

Poison

Respectless | Out for love

Happy day in hell | Loser baby

Hell is forever | Whatever it takes

It starts with sorry

More than anything

Welcome to heaven

🎶 it will take time to cover your vast multitude of sins 🎶

If i were to take into account visuals, first place would be either Loser Baby or Poison

☆ who are your otps?

I don't have a strong preference, but Charlie and Vaggie check too many of my personal boxes:

working on a project together

back-to-back fighting scene

picking a woman from a garbage dump

and nursing her back to health

DRAMA of one being another's lifeline

and never using it as leverage ever

fierce protectiveness goes both ways

casual pda

Wanted to do a full diagram and it turned out i'm so much more invested in friendship dynamics i need a separate chart for them

(what will be friendship categories? mentor/student, making each other better/worse, bonding over unique exp; we as a society should develop this concept)

As you can see i was kin assigned Lucifer and took it to heart lol

☆ who’s your least favorite character?

I don't care that much about Adam and Lute, actually

☆ are there any ships you hate?

I have an irrational personal vendetta against Alastor x Lucifer; i enjoy a good fan work, but the concept itself pisses me off; like, there's a painful power disbalance and zero positive interactions in canon

Adam does not deserve to be shipped with neither Lucifer nor Lilith. Lute kinda deserves him, but i prefer them as comrades

☆ least favorite song?

I don't feel much for Welcome to Heaven

☆ what made you watch hazbin hotel?

I think it was impossible not to watch it at the time, and of course i did, i adore this classic DeviantArt edgy lanky angular over-the-top style

☆ what made you love the show?

aesthetic really clicked with me

groundbreaking animation

lots of musical numbers

lovable characters

mlm & wlw representation

deconstruction of religion

you can tell VA's and artists had fun working on it

it's an inspiring indi-project success story

If we're talking about the animation specifically:

the character and camera movements are full of energy and satisfying to watch

characterization through body language

complex emotions

exciting action

interesting shots

you also can rewatch scenes multiple times cause characters on the background are doing stuff too

creative coloring and lighting

everyone is SO PRETTY

upturned eyes, sharp features and teeth they seemingly had to invent a new lip-sync technic for

☆ how long have you been a fan of hazbin hotel?

After i watched the pilot it took me a while to start Helluva Boss, but we binged it with a friend few years ago and i was really invested in this universe since then

☆ what’s your overall opinion on the show?

Innovative industry-changing trendsetting project we do not appreciate enough yet as a society. As a person who loves musicals, animated music videos, action, fighting and dancing, i was finally fed~

It's a crime it wasn't given more episodes; it's so tightly packed that even if i have some issues with pacing and priorities, i can't imagine HOW it can be rearranged without loosing important elements that are there already. I also firmly believe that fast story is better than less story so i'm against "just cut stuff out" approach

☆ if you could remove anything or someone from hazbin, what would it be?

This one scene where sir Pentious got dragged into a sex room as a joke 😑

☆ do you have any theories? If so what is it?

— The reason you end up in Heaven or Hell is that deep inside you're sure you deserve to go to Heaven or Hell (stole this idea from tumblr). That's how Adam ended up where he did. And sir Pentious unlocked a new mechanic cause he was exposed to the idea of redemption by Charlie (my 5 cents)

— There're more former exorcists in Hell besides Vaggie, and Carmilla saw them

— Rosie will teach Charlie how she made Cannibal town that nice of a place

— Alastor killed the most cruel and ruthless overlords, that's why the more decent ones, like Zestial / Carmilla / Rosie accepted him into the club (fandom commonplace)

— Alastor didn't kill Husk but kept his soul cause Husk wasn't that bad of a person in his overlord days and Alastor actually likes having him around

— Alastor doesn't own Nifty's soul

— Nifty is actually crazy powerful, she just wasn't properly motivated to unleash it on anyone yet

— Angel sold his sould to Valentino not out of desperation but cause he was manipulated into thinking that was a good idea somehow (he put a heart in his contract signature, also not my theory)

— both Angel and Husk will get their souls back one way or another

☆ opinions on the Vees?

Velvette is the coolest V. Vox is very relatable cause he's so done and just wants to do his job in peace and he still can't cyberbully to save his life. Valentino is a great reminder that your life can be ruined by an IDIOT which adds an insult to injury

I was dead sure Vox and Valentino are married. I hate the fact that i enjoy Valentino's dynamic with other Vees that much

I know and love Vox and Velvette's VAs from their Broadway performances as Marvin from Falsettos, Helene from Great Comet and Persephone from Hadestown

☆ thoughts on adam?

Adam can die in a fire, the genocidal maniac. He's much MUCH worse than Valentino, there's even no comparison, but i feel like fandom thinks the other way and it's wild. He was an extremely entertaining antagonist, but please don't return him in season 2

☆ if you could be best friends with any of the characters, who would it be?

I feel nerd kinship with sir Pentious but i don't think we'll be like Best Friends; i could see myself forming something like that with Vaggie if i happen to fall on her good side

☆ which scene from hazbin has permanently stuck to you?

~ hey! sssoo.. i see, the club has a sEx room! ..so i was thinking, maybeEe, you'd want to.. aa.. doo aa sExss with me 🕶️

Also the amount of serotonins Rosie and Alastor's duet gave me..

☆ who’s a character you want to see/see more in the upcoming seasons?

I need to know what happened to Eve and i need sir Pentious to be present and plot-relevant

Would be nice to meet Angel's sibling(s) and Lilith

Vaggie needs friends and support network outside of Charlie; hope Carmilla will keep mentoring her and Rosie keeps mentoring Charlie

Really excited for more Vox and Velvette

☆ what are your hazbin hotel hot takes?

The hatedom for this show is wildly disproportionate and uncalled for and it's genuinely breaks my heart cause i fear it may discourage other animators with personal projects. Hazbin deserved MUCH more praise and recognition

A good chunk of the critique can be boiled down to:

don't vibe with aesthetics so it's bad

story is not what i expected so it's bad

bad faith reading

evaluating animated show by static character sheets and random in-between screencaps

petty neatpicks

PLOT RELEVANT HOT ΤΑKES:

Sinners don't need redemptions, they need to be left alone by Heaven and work on making Hell a better place

Sir Pentious did not get a good ending, he lost all the friends he just made (it may turn out for the better but right now i'm sad)

Charlie did her best in Masquerade and as an untrained group therapist at the Hotel, cut the girl some slack, she does learn from mistakes

It's possible for Alastor to simultaneously like and help Hotel residents when he can and pursue his own agenda when he must

I think Mimzy is cute, sue me (we need more pathetic women representation, hope we'll get it in season 2)

Fandom plz stop with the infantilization of Nifty; people realized it's a problem with Velvette, which is cool, but Nifty still suffers from it too often

☆ any headcanons?

— Alastor plans on actually befriending Charlie to have a powerful willing ally like Rosie who can help him get off the leash

— Alastor decided to fight Adam to show off his powers and publicly defeat the First Man, but miscalculated catastrophically (stole this one from my sister)

— Nifty will be forced to choose between Alastor and the Hotel residents at some point in season 2

— Charlie subconsciously treats Hotel guests the way she was treated by her parents as a kid cause it's her only point of reference

— Vaggie and Angel will grow closer cause they're very similar in their protective nature, realistic worldview and self-neglect (season 2 i'm begging you)

— both Charlie and Vaggie visited Rosie and Carmilla, respectively, after the final battle to tell them how it went

— Carmilla will introduce Vaggie to her daughters and they will start hanging out sometimes

— Charlie will introduce Vaggie to Rosie

— Vaggie had good relationship with other exterminators during her Heaven era, even with Lute at some point, and she always hated Adam

— i like the idea of Husk winning back either Angel's soul from Valentino or his own from Alastor in a game of cards (it's like poetry; irl don't play if you're an addict though) or any other seemingly inoffensive game

— after he looses Angel's soul (and get his own beaten out of him preferably) Valentino will reevaluate his life and start dating Vox officially

— Cherry and Husk will become unlikely pals through Angel

— the apple tower is more likely Charlie's office, not Lucifer's, but he will be involved with running the Hotel

— considering Lucifer is actually a sincere, nice and caring person, it will be HARD for Alastor to win back the spotlight after he returns to the Hotel

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wow you got that far here let me share some sketches i did: