#the preferences do add flavour on the character

[homeinchaldea]

Currently going through the Tower event in the TW server, and the inventory is stuffing with embers.

Since I don’t want to waste it, I decide to grail 2 servants I like.

[irregularjohnnywiggins]

In what is apparently now an ongoing if sporadic series, here's what I think the main difference between Superman and Spider-Man is, summed up to one sentence:

Both of them believe to their core that 'With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility', but to Peter it's an admonishment, whereas to Clark it's an aspiration.

[karlachismylife]

Yeah, but what if you're a character in a game they like to play? A pre-existing townie in a life simulator that helps them reconnect with normal life outside deployment? The one they somehow always tend to romance in every savefile, courting you through the clumsy mechanics?

Soap would absolutely spam interactions, interrupting any of the tasks you are trying to do. What do you mean your relatonship progress starts going down after he chose "tell a flirty joke" twenty times in a row? Why are you falling out of the conversation and going to water your plants or play on the computer? Does he have to delete it out of the game for you to stop getting distracted? Hmph. If you were a real person, you would be already swooning at his jokes, that he knows for sure. C'mon, bonnie, don't leave the lot for work! If you accept his proposition to move in, you'll never need to work a day in your pixel life! He also has a fuckton of savefiles, because he wants to try every single thing the game has to offer, but turns out mastering all 158 skills and 73 careers isn't that easy in one go. He still goes after you in each and every savefile. What can he say? You're just the prettiest of them all.

Gaz has the strategy nailed down. He knows your pre-set preferences and makes sure his character caters to them (good thing you seem to be generally into him, all he needs to do is add your favourite colour to his outfit, and it suits hm too!), he can calculate the shortest route to have a romantic meter above your head in one conversation. Juggling the interactions with ease, never making the mistake to bore or upset you. He knows you'll have the best family tree in that game, and he'll make it happen. Also has quite a few savefiles, but only because he enjoys the storytelling aspect and always prepares some elaborate plot, filled with drama. Takes inspiration from the hundreds of episodes of different TV shows he manages to watch, also plays with mods to add as much flavour to the game as possible.

Price tries to court you like he would a real person. Inviting your character out, putting a lot of thought into which conversation theme choose out of what game offers, bringing you gifts. Unfortunately for him, the game isn't registering his actions as actually trying to woo you... so he just takes the gloves off and fucking cheats your relationship status. His in-game self needs a pretty partner to look after the pack of three dogs, named Ghost, Gaz and Soap respectively. He's not above cheating your babies (whether your character carries them or it's the science baby option) to be triplets. Only starts new savefiles when you both grow old and pass away in the previous one, maybe because he can't bring himself to live out your kids' lives (they should be their own little virtual people and decide for themselves), or maybe because he doesn't understand that he actually can keep playing even if his character's dead.

Ghost starts with adding himself to your family and setting your relationship status as spouses. Oh, you have some in-game pathetic weird looking prick as your pre-set partner/husband? Too bad, evicted, deleted from the game, forgotten. If he is in the mood, he won't straight up delete that poor bloke, but will set up a pool with no ladder and drown him in it or lock him in a separate room to starve. Nothing you should see, though, you'll be plenty busy drowning yourself, not in a pool, but in his affection. Doesn't spam interactions, but really enjoys just watching you go about your day and making it so that his character takes care of your needs - if you start to get hungry, he's already slamming the "call to meal" button on the giant ribs plate his in-game self just roasted. Probably has one savefile where he keeps cheating any death back.

Or are you a cute tamagochi pocket friend/pet they enjoy taking care of, because having a real pet is impossible with their lifestyle? An NPC with an everyday quest of collecting produce in a chill farm simulator? A weekly boss they lose fight to as much times as they can afford to, just to see your opening cutscene replay over and over? A companion whose personal quest they have memorized line by line, but never skip dialogue to hear your voice and look at every expression you make?

Whoever you are, what if one day something in your code changes and you suddenly start recognizing them?

[toskarin]

A question of curiosity - assuming you play them due to your involvement with a bunch of them, what are your favourite kinds of characters (be it mechanically or narratively) to play in TTRPGS? And do you have any associated anecdotes to go with them?

courtesy readmore

mechanically kinda depends on what's on the menu, but if it's combat-focused, I personally really enjoy characters who "deny" things

not really the kind of character who I'd ever expect a GM to put in their element on purpose (I usually make a conscious effort to remind the GM of things I'm capable of so that I don't trample on any fun setpieces) but definitely the kind of character who modifies objectives just by being in play. I also like magic-users in concept, but that's more of a flavour thing

I think that's reflected a good bit in the kind of narrative play I enjoy, too. when I make a character, I prefer to do it with the rest of the party in mind, less to make the character "compatible" and more to make them sharply contrast in ways that encourage the other characters to have moments where they can reaffirm who they are (both in narrative and out of narrative)

there's a fine balance to strike here. on one end of things, you risk yes-manning so hard that the party quickly becomes a problem solving engine with a single striking surface. on the other end of the things, you risk being The Chaotic Neutral Guy

the space in the middle there represents the characters that people often want to regularly interact with, but rarely want to play. the sort of character who isn't actively disruptive, but raises a lot of red flags when they suddenly show enthusiastic agreement for what you're doing. the kind of character you almost need a diminished sense of discomfort to play without getting in your own feelings about

I adore playing characters who are catered to find plot hooks in other players' characters and tug them just enough to pull them to the surface

most parties have characters who disagree on things that aren't easily resolved. that's always fun, but (because people courteously tend to avoid conflict) it's very rare for those conflicts to come up without GM prompting, and "create productive conflict between two characters without leaving out the rest of the characters or starting a fight between players" is often an equally uncomfortable situation for a GM

lots of fun directions to take it!

have an arc that would benefit from a character taking charge but their player doesn't feel comfortable just Doing That? it helps to have someone else try to take charge who obviously should not be allowed, just to get everyone behind the alternative

have someone with a pure heart who doesn't really get to show that in a party of players who don't want to be mean? maybe someone who's a little more morally-compromised could give them a window for explaining what they actually believe

have a character who's part of some mysterious cult that nobody else is going to find the time to look into? the party could benefit from having a nosy character to justify cracking open that backstory

GM needs to fuck something up to remind the party of how dangerous things are? why not add to the mood by showing what your often-cold character looks like when something manages to actually upset them

[WARNING: DOING ANY OF THIS WALKS THE PRECARIOUSLY THIN LINE BETWEEN BEING COMPELLING AND BEING ANNOYING]

observant readers (well, those who have followed for a while) might have noticed I periodically go on rants about the much-maligned "evil character in a good party" and how both sides of the argument represent a communication and courtesy breakdown. that also very much ties into this sort of thing. I won't go over Tolerable Villainy 101 again, but you get the idea

distilled, I like playing the sort of thoroughly worldly bastards who often end up important in their own right, but mostly on accident, by virtue of being important to what makes other characters compelling

[yandere-romanticaa]

I don't think some people understand just how absolutely terrifying Mori is and I want to talk about it.

When you meet him it will most likely be in a casual place such as the street or the mall with Elise by his side, naturally. The little girl takes a swift liking to you and basically demands Mori to convince you to play with her and he obeys. It is honestly a little humiliating seeing a grown man beg for something like that but it is endearing in its own little way. Feeling bad for them both you agree and promptly make your way towards the playground where the three of you spend the day together, responsibilities be damned.

Before you know it, the physician and his daughter become something of a semi often occurence in your life.

Mori himself is silly - tripping all over his words, especially if Elise says something to him. There are times when the little girl says some of the most concerning things totally out of the blue but Mori always manages to shut her up, which feels out of character for him.

It feels like some sort of secret that you really should not hear but you decide not to pay any attention to it. Everyone has secrets to keep, a skeleton or two deeply hidden in their closets, you don't judge Mori for this.

He is greatly pleased with your easygoing attitude.

Mori often sits in his pitch black office, the scent of fine chocolates and cigarette smoke lingering in the air as his subordinates give him their reports but his mind is elsewhere.

He's half paying attention to the executive's words as he grabs a tiny heart shaped chocolate from the pristine red box, its surface shining brightly against the light that is lit close to him. He pops is in his mouth and savors the milky flavour, the sweet strawberry centre giving it that extra delightful kick which he oh so craves.

Mori indulges in the sweets and thinks of you as he does so. Yes, this is something you would love.

The gifts start pouring and pouring, each one more extravagant than the last. They range from fine sweets, good wine, beautiful clothing and letters which detail the senders feelings towards you. The sender never bothered to sign the letters but always made sure to add something like I'm always watching or Sleep well.

It was creepy.

You tell Mori about some of the gifts that are left on your doorstep but never go into full detail as you're too nervous of scaring him off. The older man always somehow manages to laugh the entire sitation away and tells you to not so worry so much. Don't you know that some people would kill to have someone so helplessly in love with them? He sits on your couch, legs crossed and with a cup of tea in his hands, which you served him of course. You talk and talk and his words give shallow comfort especially as time goes by.

Was he being too forward? Did the gifts not suit your preferences? With a sigh he just waves off his men, all while thinking to himself "Ridiculous, of course they love it!"

Mori thinks you're just shy. You just are not used to someone paying so much attention to you, especially to the extent that Mori is. He has eyes and ears everywhere, your apartment is under constant surveillance and not to mention that the apartment itself is bugged, allowing Mori to hear you speak and do your other daily activities.

He knows you better then you know yourself.

It does not take Mori insert himself in your life in more personal ways. No matter who, Mori always somehow manages to make the people around him look worse than he is and in a flash he orchestrates the downfall of your whole entire life. You lose your job, your home, your friends and family no longer speak to you.

Some, if not all are dead but you don't need to know that.

That is when he comes to you, when you are at your weakest, your most vulnerable. He drops the silly act like a mask and his true colours are exposed.

Mori Ougai is a monster.

But, would you rather sell your soul to a monster or be left in the streets alone, unloved and penniless? Truly, your life would be so much easier if you just submit to him and look, you don't even need to do that much! Eat the food he feeds and wear the nice clothes he gets you and you will be golden!! Just, be still and pretty, alright?

It's honetly so jarring to see Mori's personality shift - one minute he is the silly doctor you met and grew to like, the man who says dumb things in order to make you laugh, the man who was willing to beg on his knees for you to just please, wear this cute outfit, it is going to look so good on you he promises!!

And yet, the next moment he is cold, cruel and calculating, the head of the Port Mafia. He is a man of his word and his subordinates greatly admire and fear him, yes, fear. Do not forget that Kyouka literally started shaking when she saw him after she left the Port Mafia, almost everyone who is in close contact with the man is never the same person they were once before. He will make himself out to be the best possible option and you know that he is the reason why your life is in shambles but that's not even the worst bit.

It is the fact that you have two options. Do you go to the streets and die in the darkness, be it from starvation, dehydration or murder? Or, do you stay with Mori who all but guarantees your safety and comfort, under the condition that you can never leave?

He knows you hate him and he is perfectly content with that. You will choose him in the end, you always will.

That is what keeps you both up at night, one with glee while the other with terror.

🕊️ TAGS: @yanroma, @oneoftheprettynerds, @rosemary108233, @itssara-chan, @gettinshiggywithit, @ophticcus

[angelofsmalldeath-codeine]

Hemmy's Recommendation List - Frankie ‘Catfish’ Morales

Frankie 'Catfish' Morales

Hi! I am Hemmy and live in a delusional world where I am the female companion to Frankie Morales, Joel Miller and Javier Peña. The amazing banner by the incredible @proxima-writes @pr0ximamidnight; mid-banners and dividers by @cafekitsune

This is my first-ever recommendation list and I am trying to figure out the best format.

These are fics that I have read and enjoyed. I am sure there are many more out there that I have yet to discover. If you have any suggestions, please comment so we can all add them to our 'to be read' lists.

Link to Masterlist

Self-plug: if you need a beta reader or want help with Spanish for the ones who write Javi P and Frankie, hit me up!

Disclaimer:

These creators are putting out content for free and do not have to cater to your personal preferences or expectations of how this or that character should be written.

If a creator has not explicitly asked for feedback on their work, keep your opinion to yourself. If they have asked for feedback, mind your manners.

You are not forced to read through it. Feel free to abandon a series or one-shot halfway through if it is not working for you.

Heed warnings and tags, if you don't like soft!Javi, don't read anything with that tag. It is THAT simple. Apply that logic to everything else that is not to your taste.

Warnings and tags on each fic. Read at your discretion. You are responsible for the content you choose to consume.

Frankie 'Catfish' Morales

GIF by uuuhshiny

Series

A Fond Farewell  @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin Amaryllis  @gracie7209 Because Of You  @kteague Delta Palms Tropical Resort  @linzels-blog Fix You  @astoryisaloveaffair Forest Ranger  @the-ginger-hedge-witch Grays I & II  @fuckyeahdindjarin I like the way you   @undercoverpena-fics Just a Number  @linzels-blog King Of Your Heart  @ruinedbylanadelrey My tears and my beers and my candles  @proxima-writes Shadow Of The Past  @lotrefcp Something Else  @pedrostylez Table For Two  @hellishjoel Take Your Time  @romanarose The Layover  @goodwithcheese The Melting Point  @penvisions The Road Ahead  @bellofthemeadow Third Time Is A Charm  @jwritesfanfics Those Ocean Eyes  @iamdesibell Worlds Get In the Way  @jokersfangirl84

One Shots

Always Here For You  @jwritesfanfics Burning Hearts  @wordywarriorwrites Bush Pilot  @legendary-pink-dot Cherry Flavoured  @pedrostylez Easy Like Breathing  @louswrld11 Focus  @pedrostylez Frankie's Way  @morallyinept Friends Don't Do This  @forever-rogue Gold Band  @moralesispunk Home From The Bar  @pedrostylez Not A Day Too Soon  @criticallyacclaimedstranger Over When It's Over  @gnpwdrnwhiskey Partner In Crime  @romanarose Seven Minutes In Heaven  @tieronecrush The Day 3 Words Are Said  @undercoverpena-fics The Day Frankie Meets You  @undercoverpena-fics Touch Me Like You Never, Push Me Like You Never  @quinnnfabrgay-writes Working Hard  @pedrostylez

Link to Masterlist

[iiapple]

do you hate knife as a character or what the fandom/his relationship with suitcase has turned into /genq

both

theres aspects to him i enjoy though usually its paired with another character's interactions with the general juvenile violence in season 1 - early season 2. knife and trophy's whole deal is so ridiculously stupid its laughable but in an enjoyable way where im kinda entertained. it can make for a lot of funny interactions that are just jabs at one another (and trophy getting the short end of the dick which is always funny). he and pickle are fun too even without the romancey shippinf component, they can be at a base just stupid gay bros that chill. while he was caught up in mic's business and did lend a hand in her arc, i do prefer how it is now where again, its just slight jabs and non melodramatic fun (add in soap to grill his ass, soapmic knickle video game sesh and soap is crushing everyone at it like hell)

however its the push of him needing to be this "philosophical deep guy who analyzes everyone correctly and its soooooo interesting how much hes changed" that really irks me. because i honestly dont buy it and just see a man who self pities under the guise of "learning and growing i help others now because ive changed". hes like balloon to me in that sense except hes able to keep it composed and together without becoming outwardly desperate. its honestly irritating how much of an involvement he has now and again, how much of a push there is to him being in the top 2 after "all his growth". i just dont give a fuck. why should i give a fuck about a man who burnt and harassed and bullied and tortured a woman in season 1 for fun, and had others try to join in on it too? and the GALL of him to even apologize to marshmallow for it too LOOOOOL... "ohhhh poor me im sorry marshmallow for hurting you before" pussy couldnt even state what he did to her, weak ass self fellating apology im SO glad marsh didnt accept it and was NOT kind about it in front of him. she shouldve start throwing rocks at him. all this "change and teaching" i will never forgive that man for what he did to women

not to mention, how practically of little to no help he was towards suitcase who, was dealing with bigger issues than he was as if hes fuckin get it. such bullshit advice and "lessons" hed tell her when its like dude, shut the hell up!!! youre saying the dumbest shit and still pinning it all against her somehow when shes been tossed around her supposed alliance because those 3 idiots couldnt get shit together for once. that AND her psychosis coming onto the foreground of it all of course shes not gonna talk about it further because you keep pushing in shit that she has no fault in, as if shedve trust you with that. its sweet that theyre working now against everything now but god lol, i just dont buy their newfound ammends and friendship of sort personally

what the fandom has done is REALLY hyopcritical. now im not gonna say its every single person who does this, nor am i a fan of monolith-ing (?) a group of people because of a common pattern, but its just really REALLY funny seeing people going after pairings like lairy or whatever saying its "proship" while shipping a man who has a history of violence on women with a psychotic woman who he has offered piss poor assistance to in the name of his own weird beliefs of changing and helping. idgaf for discourse around a bunch of pixels over trivial shit that really isnt THAT big of an issue (lairy discourse), especially because well, theyre wrong as fuck, but how are people gonna say one thing then turn around and do The Same Shit under another flavour. knifecase is such a kick in the balls to women and another example of how fandom greatly prefers men over women WHATEVER the situation is. theyll fawn over a man whos done shit and think "yeah hes my poor onglydoople poop. only HE suffers in this work of media" while greatly ignoring the issues the women in the same piece of work deal with by writing (misogyny) and circumstances (misogyny again). this world is founded immensely on misogyny and we're never getting the fuck out of it and while yeah im ranting about object character violence being sexist/misogynistic, you gotta get that its all a repeated pattern of these behaviours these mentalities this culture. you can argue one thing about writers intentions and beliefs, we dont know these people well enough to point fingers and label. however, how are YOU digesting it? shitting it out? what is your overall take and without using gay fandom buzzwords and misogynist thinking describe the women in the show (rhetorical)

[chrysanthemumgames]

Oh, I didn't know you were removing skill stats!

May I ask how will the "checks" happen, if they are not checks anymore? Especially the instances in which we need a very high stat as of now (like saving the orchard when helping Hades after the lock-in)? I'm very curious!

I do like the idea though - I prefer non-stat systems!

I'll be going into more detail on my editing posts on the Patreon, but essentially, it's the choices themselves which will determine the outcome, and occasionally having a certain trait (like for example, the flat "good at magic" trait or the "oblivious" drawback), will add options that can lead to different outcomes.

They'll also influence flavour text, of course.

I really want to emphasize that there is no "best" way to play FoA. It's a game where, hopefully, people can portray a character, and the world will change in response to that character's actions and be responsive to that character's choices and the way they act towards other people.

I want people to be able to choose the option that fits their character, without worrying about whether a percentage is high enough or it checks the skill they're guessing it checks.

[justamessedupdisneyprincess]

🗡️ 💙ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BARLEY LIGHTFOOT💙🗡️

These are just my personal HCs. This is just a huge list or rather my personal wiki ALL about Barley. This list will have four different categories, the basics (birthday/sexuality etc), preferences (what he likes/dislikes), facts (random short facts about him), relationships (facts about his relationships with his friends and family) and history (facts about his childhood and high school years).

💙BASICS💙

He was born on the 3rd of August 2001

He is pansexual 🩷💛💙

He is neurodivergent

He is an extrovert

Dream job

His dream job would to become like a mercenary and go on many quests. Since that isn’t likely though he may become a mechanic.

Hobbies

His hobbies include: playing Quests of Yore, playing RPG video games, drawing (he is a traditional artist), writing (mostly poetry and songs but he has written some adventurous stories as well), playing guitar and writing his own songs, exploring and travelling in Guinevere, cosplay, LARPing, making and painting QOY figurines and miniatures to add to his games, fixing up broken things.

Talents

He is very good at drawing and painting traditionally but is hopeless with digital art, he can be a great actor as well, he is a surprisingly good cook as he did used to cook sometimes when Laurel was super busy or tired, he is a master of improvising and can work well with nothing but scrap.

Fears

He doesn’t fear much but he is afraid of the hospital, gelatinous cubes, and losing loved ones.

🥰Preferences😒

Loved food and drinks

He is a huge fan of junk food especially and he does also enjoy a lot of dairy. He loves a nice hearty meal. Some of his favourites meals are pizza (especially BBQ and ones with plenty of meaty toppings), burgers, burritos, nachos, pretty much anything with lots of cheese, roast meats and pies.

He enjoys some sweets too! He is nuts about chocolate and anything that is very chocolatey. He is also a big fan of doughnuts and pastries. He likes to drink soda and energy drinks. Overall his preferred diet may not look the healthiest.

His ultimate favourites are pizza, chocolate cake, fries covered in cheese, any sort of cheesy crisps like cheese puffs, any sort of cheesy snacks in general, fried griffin wings, roast ham, mountain doom drinks, Coca Cola and chocolate milkshakes.

Disliked/hated food and drinks

He is not a fan of anything that tastes bitter. He loved pretty much all chips and crisps but he isn’t a big fan of the ones that are vinegar flavoured. He dislikes most vegetables.

He especially hates meals that are nothing but vegetables, a warrior needs his protein he says! As for drinks he isn’t a huge fan of tea. He dislikes the taste of green tea.

Music

Barley LOVES rock and heavy metal! Electric guitar solos are his favourite. His loves a good rock opera as well.

Barley isn’t a fan of most pop songs. Occasionally he might find one he doesn’t mind though. He hates a song that is slow and quiet though. He NEEDS something he can bang his head to or play air guitar to.

Movies/shows

Barley of course loves ANY sort of adventure movie or series that has to do with olden days. He would be way into LOTR/Hobbit for example. He enjoys a lot of action but he does also secretly enjoy some romance because he is a softie (he won’t admit it though.).

He isn’t too fussy with genres but he isn’t a fan of anything that feels too sad. Because of that he may not be into post apocalyptic series (although he does enjoy the concepts of post apocalyptic) because he feels too bad for any of the characters that die. He can actually get shockingly emotional. He also doesn’t like ones that feel too slow, if not much is happening for a long while he gets bored easily, “where is the action?” He would say.

Books

Any classic old fairy tale or legend that was written back in the olden days. He likes stories about adventure but he doesn’t read much as he tends to be too busy with his other hobbies. He reads literally every QOY book or comic he can get his hands on though and always finds a way to make time for them! He also enjoys books that talk about history.

As for disliked books he doesn’t really have any so to say, he only focuses on the genres above and hasn’t tried any other. He thinks about trying out some more comics and even some manga someday though.

Style/clothes/furnishings

Barley obviously loves to rock an outfit that says “metal”. If a shirt has a print of a weapon or skull there is a high chance Barley will wear it. He isn’t too sure of wearing anything that might look a bit too cutesy though. He wants to look cool! The clothes he wears also has to be comfortable, he will never wear anything that isn’t.

He loves clothing and furniture with either a rocker’s vibe to it or something that looks old fashioned and mystical. He is not too fussed about colours but he does prefer darker colours over pastels, such as a dark blue, deep red or black. He loves to collect any old amour or weapons! He has grown quite the collection.

Barley is not a fan of a modern look or anything that is minimalist. One reason he dislikes a modern architecture is because it makes him feel like the world is drifting further and further away from its humble beginnings and as for minimalist he just finds it boring.

Activities

Barley loves all of his hobbies mentioned above but as for things he does not like to do, that would have to be a lot of chores. While he does love to draw and work on things to add to his game he actually isn’t into a lot of craft related activities. He enjoys colouring or things that are on paper but he doesn’t have the patience to sit still and knit or cross stitch. He is usually the type who is down for anything but he doesn’t do well in things that feel a bit too quiet, like yoga and meditation for example. He loves video games but he actually isn’t really into most cozy games as he personally gets bored from time to time, he loves the thrill of an adventure both in real life and in games! He isn’t a huge sports fan but he does enjoy playing some sport games from time to time, however he HATES fishing because he gets very impatient and bored.

📚Facts📚

Barley is a heavy sleeper, he can sleep through a hurricane! He also tends to be a night owl and can sleep in late at times. It is hard to wake him up!

As mentioned he loves to collect old amour and weapons, he has a huge collection now and he constantly wonders what adventures these old relics went on. He admires each and every one of them, even if some of them may be very rusty. He even gives them names just like he did with Guinevere!

He has an iron stomach, in both the sense he can handle gore and gross stuff shockingly well and he can eat slightly spoiled food or eat extreme amounts and be perfectly fine. Although he did have a few moments where he over did it. (It was mentioned in one of the Disney apps where he ate five buckets of fries and it didn’t end well). Regarding handling gross things or gore he can watch the most insane stuff, he can watch someone during an operation while snacking on cheese puffs just fine.

He actually secretly has a huge soft spot for animals, kids and cute things.

Barley doesn’t do a lot to take care of himself, he may avoid a shower every once in a while so he can focus on questing. On an average he showers once a day but it is not uncommon for him to miss just one day. This was implied in the movie as well.

Barley can sleep in his clothes just fine, he has even done that a few times if it’s been a long day.

Barley is a huge hugger and he gives the best hugs as well!

He may seem silly most of the time but he can be mature in other ways. While he seems impatient when it comes to what he is doing as of now he is very patient when it comes to others. Because of this he makes a great and understanding friend! He also tends to be very understanding and he never judges.

He has no fear of bugs, he just casually picks them up and lets them outside if they’re in the house. He has even held some huge spiders which always freaks out his family.

He isn’t the athletic type but he likes to go on walks, he takes his time and enjoys the scenery though, it’s not for exercise personally. He loves to explore new areas! He is very curious of the world around him and is thrilled to discover something new.

He actually knows how to play a lot of instruments and has studied music. He can read music notes as well.

When visiting a theme park he enjoys the extreme rides like roller coasters.

He is a huge fan of puns!

He loves riddles as well and likes to solve them and ask them. Although sometimes if you get it wrong multiple times he may drop a hint or two…usually in the form of ANOTHER riddle.

He is not only passionate about the past and preserving historical structures and relics, he often collects any litter he finds to help keep the streets clean enough. This is tied to his passion about the past as well, to keep the old kingdom clean of modern garbage. Sometimes he may find ways to repurpose the things he finds and has made some…bizarre things.

It’s not uncommon for Barley to help himself to a midnight snack. Depending on his mood sometimes he will snack on left overs from dinner or he might even make himself an ice cream sandwich.

He also has weird food habits. Some joke that he eats like a pregnant person at times! He gets cravings of things and they form into some bizarre combinations! He once made himself some toast and smothered it with ice cream for one example.

Barley is a big stress eater. He doesn’t normally get stressed though. (It was kind of implied in the movie when he tore through a bag of cheese puffs and went to get another snack when he got angry at Ian).

Barley is usually calm and cool but when he gets super angry he might punch at a few walls or posts. He has bruised his knuckles a few times when things got really rough.

Barley is the worst at lying, doesn’t matter what lie it is, what the circumstances are or who he may be lying too, he is just awful at it. (Was kind of implied in the movie as well at the beginning with Colt LOL)

Barley sometimes sings in the shower.

He has lots and lots of journals that are filled with his art, ideas and literature. He has so many scattered around him room and he probably has enough to make his own library. Sometimes he might just sit and doodle completely random things.

He is great at most mechanics related stuff but he struggles to understand a lot of computer related stuff.

Barley talks to himself when he gets nervous or impatient. So much so it can be like he has a conversation with himself at some stages.

He usually says whatever pops into his head. So sometimes he can be a little blunt and say things at a bad time. He rarely says things that are offensive though because he has a genuine and kind heart. The worst he may say is if someone is boring or a total buzzkill. (Usually towards Colt).

Barley will go out of his way to help a stranger in need. Like helping old people cross the road for example. If he sees a baby or kid crying he would usually try to make funny faces to make them laugh or cheer them up.

Barley has a FREAKISHLY good memory.

Barley may seem confident most of the time but if he gets a crush on someone he can actually be pretty shy about it to begin with. Basically he is all like: 😳🥺👉👈

🫂Relationships🫂

Ian

He obviously loves Ian a whole lot! They were very close when they were younger but when Ian went through puberty he sort of drifted from him for a moment before their big adventure took place. When his father died Barley was grieving heavily and Ian’s arrival helped him a whole lot! He is grateful to have him in his life and it’s all just one of the many reasons he loves him.

He feels a strong need to protect him no matter what! During school he would often go and check on Ian to make sure he was alright. When Barley graduated he has tried to sneak back into school just to make sure Ian was alright. This was also because Barley did have to deal with a few Aholes so he wanted to make sure Ian was ok. This of course embarrassed Ian greatly and a small argument did break out where Ian told him not to baby him anymore.

When Ian got his first facial hair Barley almost cried because his baby brother was growing up. He truely is like a brother AND father figure to him. It used to embarrass Ian as well because he made a huge deal out of it! “Did ya hear that? His little voice is breaking” “ugh….”

Barley has tried to play a few pranks on Ian before, usually by hiding behind a door and jumping out to scare him! It works every time. Although his main intention is to train him to be more alert and to have fun while doing it. It’s part of him lightly shaping him into being a warrior. He has gotten into trouble when Ian complained to Laurel though when his pranks went a bit too far, (not harmful at all! Just annoying and startling.).

When they were kids they played a lot! We have seen them go swimming, bike riding and play pillow fights! They often used to make their own pillow forts and watch tv together while snuggled up inside. Barley tried to play swords with Ian using sticks but Laurel quickly banned them from playing that game in fear of them accidentally hurting one another.

Barley actually used to get lots of nightmares about losing his dad when he was little and sometimes he has nightmares about his mother and Ian getting sick the same way Wilden was. He always goes into Ian’s room and watches him sleep for a while to make sure he is ok.

Laurel

Laurel loves Barley but is often frustrated with his recklessness, habits and the immature side of him. She can be strict with him but it is ultimately out of love, like “Look for a job!”, “Clean your room!”, etc.

Even though Barley is an adult she will still ground him sometimes. She says she has that power for as long as he lives under her roof. There have been a few times where poor Barley had his Quests of Yore campaign closed down earlier and she hides the box away somewhere for a while. A lot of Barley’s Quests of Yore friends think she is pretty scary.

It was hard losing her husband but it was also hard being a single mother. Because she had to work so hard it wasn’t uncommon for her to get home late from work. When Barley got a little older he used to help cook dinner when she got very tired of busy. Although he did used to make a huge mess of the kitchen, still Laurel couldn’t complain if it meant she didn’t have to worry about dinner so much. Barley is weirdly mature in some ways and immature in other ways.

Barley wasn’t able to spend lots and lots of time with his mother during childhood since she had to work twice as hard as a single parent. It is also part of why Barley was extra close with Ian because he was always there to play with.

When Laurel got stressed Barley used to try and cheer her up by telling jokes or making funny faces to try to make her laugh. It worked almost every time!

Colt

They aren’t exactly on the best of terms. Colt does care for Barley though since he is his stepson but Barley still cannot see him as his dad. For a while he felt angry because he saw him as a cheap replacement and had trouble understanding why Laurel suddenly wanted to start seeing someone else after so long. That feeling faded over time but he still isn’t fond of Colt.

Laurel and Colt met when Barley got arrested for one of his protests. He was completely baffled when his mother and the police officer started dating! After all he was like an enemy to him!

Colt tends to scold Barley a fair bit but he does still try to make an effort. Usually they still don’t see eye to eye though.

Barley was worried about Laurel getting her heart broken so he broke into Colt’s office at one stage to snoop through all of his stuff to find any sort of evidence. He found nothing that could prove he had any ill intentions though.

Sometimes Colt will start talking about something and it would be hard to make him stop. He hits Barley with a whole lot of “When I was your age” stories that tend to be very boring and they are often tied to some even more boring lecture as well.

Colt wants to be a good enough stepfather but has no idea how. He once asked Barley if he was interested in anyone and needed advice about that sort of stuff or if he had any questions. It was the hardest Barley has ever cringed in his WHOLE life!

Barley will sometimes stick his tongue at Colt when he or Laurel are not looking.

Manticore (Corey)

Barley is a HUGE fan of her and looks up to her a whole lot. He tends to be a big fanboy when it comes to her.

He sees her the way many others see celebrities and was actually a bit nervous when first getting to know his idol. He is always respectful around her but the first few months…perhaps even years…he has been a bit over the top. He would kneel before her constantly and always talk so formally even though they are technically friends now. Corey feels like she should tell him to just act natural but has no idea how too.

Barley frequently asks her to share some of her stories, as politely as possible of course. When she speaks he always watches her with a sparkle in his eyes, like an excited kid.

Barley usually says how she is like the coolest person in the world. Ian being in close second (which Ian always denies).

Barley did actually go to her tavern when he was only five years old. Laurel had an important meeting and lunch was being held there but she couldn’t find any babysitters at the time so she took her kids along. She had to do this more than once. Ian has no memory of being there but Barley absorbed every moment of it! The tavern was actually different back then, it looked more like how it did by the end of the movie but empty and worn down. Barley ended up wondering off for a moment and examined some of her old weapons and treasures. The manticore finds him and tells him a few stories about her adventures as he looked through her stuff. She seemed sad as no one else seemed interested anymore but was thrilled to see Barley showing interest and had to share her tales. Barley asked many questions about her old stuff and she was overjoyed to tell him everything! This is where his love for history and adventure began to grow. Laurel panicked when she realised Barley wondered off and Corey happily led him back to his mother who scolded him for wondering. The memory is a bit hazy now but Barley still holds onto that. Since it has been many years though Corey didn’t remember Laurel at all and she was just another customer at the time, since Barley grew up it was hard to recognise him. At some stage when Barley got a bit more comfortable around his hero he did tell her about it and asked if she remembered, this jogged her memory and her, Laurel and Barley had a good laugh over it whilst Ian stood there clueless as he was far too young to remember much about that day.

He felt sick when he saw the dramatic changes to her tavern halfway into the movie, with the gift shop and games and such. He felt as if his childhood was ruined in some ways! He hid it pretty well though. In the end he actually helped her come up with the idea of sharing her stories with her customers as an attraction like how we see in the end of the movie.

Shrub Rosehammer (a friend of his that was briefly mentioned in the movie and some books)

Shrub is a troll friend of his who is briefly mentioned. They both love quests of yore and play it together.

They met in kindergarten and had been good friends since. Barley was alone after just recently losing his dad. Most of the other kids ignored him as he sat alone but Shrub was concerned and asked if he wanted to play. Barley was a bit taken aback at first as he was still grieving but he was also surprised how someone at his school actually said something to him. Because of that he took the offer and they played during lunch break and their friendship grew from there.

Barley is like the wild card of the duo. Wild Shrub can get into mischief on rare occasions but he still isn’t nearly as chaotic as Barley and does try to avoid breaking some rules. He was what Barley would call a lawful good.

When Barley got himself into trouble Shrub would just chuckle a little, not in a mean spirited way but because he knew what was coming. Barley is so unpredictable that he has become predictable.

Barley is a lot more passionate and will go on rants about how old facilities of their ancient past are being torn down. Shrub just listens and lets him blow off steam. He would say “I agree that it sucks, but there’s nothing we could do.”. He didn’t really help Barley with that stuff in the sense of joining in on the protest. BUT he was somewhat supportive in the sense he would be like “Yeah that’s sucks. Hey man, did you wanna grab something to eat? I’m sure a doughnut or something will make you feel better.”

🏫History🏫

Childhood

Barley has an old teddy bear his father gave him before he died. It’s his most treasured possession and he still sleeps with it to this very day.

Barley would have had a lonely childhood if it wasn’t for Ian and a few friends he did have in school. He would sometimes feel upset about his father and felt robbed of his parents but just having Ian helped a whole lot.

He had to be independent pretty quickly. Laurel would often call for babysitters when needed but there have been a few times when they couldn’t get one and Barley had to take charge. Laurel was very stern about the rules of safety and repeated them to Barley literally thousands of times each and every time she goes out. She wanted to imprint them into his brain. Ironically though they were put into Ian’s head and he was often the one who reminded Barley not to do certain things.

Barley used to injure himself CONSTANTLY as a kid. He still does to this day but not nearly as much.

Barley was a super hyper kid who just wanted to play ALL the time, Laurel used to wonder how he never seems to get tired. Usually he would be bouncing around and then all of a sudden he will crash and fall into a deep sleep. There were no in between moments back then, his energy levels were just like a switch!

When Barley was little he wanted to be a knight but got his dreams crushed quickly by a teacher who told him there are no knights anymore.

High school years

Barley actually used to get bad pimples around the age of 13 to 16.

He had been picked on a little bit in school but it was nothing ever TOO extreme, mostly some name calling here and there. Although he still did get his feelings hurt from time to time. He used to do what he can to stand up for others who were being picked on. On rare occasions he did end up in a few fist fights against bullies.

Barley is incredibly intelligent! Although he struggles in subjects he has little to no interest in. His best subject was obviously history!

He used to struggle with chemistry, which he had insisted was just updated potion brewing…he used to get quite experimental with that sort of stuff and it usually would not go too well. He would also often complain about the “unnecessary modern equipment” that just felt like it made things far more complicated than need be.

Barley used to try and explore every single inch of the school to try to find any hidden secrets, it did used to be an ancient castle after all. He would make note of anything he felt was interesting or perhaps even a potential key to a hidden chamber.

Barley would sneak lots and lots of snacks into school. He always had lots of gum and it used to drive some of the teachers crazy!

💙thanks so much for reading! I plan to do other characters in the future as well! At some stage. This took so long to make.💙

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

WHY IS EVERYONE SAYING GOJO IS ATTRACTED TO OLDER WOMEN???

Gege never said that pls, he said that if he could ever imagine himself as anything other than a jujutsu sorcerer which is a “probably not” and then a freeloader and swallow was mentioned

Where tf is him being attracted to older women mentioned???? Also we can say that it insinuates him being separated from him mother from a young age causing him to have mommy issues AND he needs someone to love and care for him not that he needs an older rich woman

Let’s not forget how there’s so much emphasis on him needing someone to understand him.. An older rich woman is not what he needs…. He’s already filthy dirt rich 🙏

A younger girl can also understand and love and care for him?? Like let’s not make up gojos preferences for age which ironically alot of older women are doing all over social media rn with this tiny piece of information that never specified his preferences

ITS PISSING ME OFF ARIIII HOPE YOU GET ME HERE 💔💔💔

😭😭😭 WELL . honestly i don’t see gojo liking women period in the manga so i might not be the best person to ask here anon……….

hmmmmm honestly i don’t have a problem with people saying he likes older women? it’s seems mostly harmless to me? :3 overall i don’t think he’s the type to fixate on age too much though…

anyway. if you want more info on the interview question then please check out soukatsu’s tweets <33 they went over both terms akutami used to describe gojo, ヒモ and ツバメ!! the former seems to imply a degree of uselessness (freeloader, leech, etc) while the latter is less derogatory and more so just… a younger guy who dates older women + lives off their money. i have zerooo clue if these terms are used only for hetero relationships or if they’re also used for men living off their older bf’s money, and so on, but yeah!! those are the terms :3

if you wanna be reeeally technical and clear cut then i think it’s kinda obvious this is a bit of a troll answer 😭 akutami is basically calling gojo a useless leech in the first part LMAO. but i do think it says something about gojo’s character!! my own take is that when he does fantasize about not being a sorcerer (which, like akutami said - it’s unlikely that he ever does), he fantasizes about being pampered and free from responsibility <3 as he should be!!!!!

as for the mommy issues 👀👀👀 i will always support gojo having them. i think it adds flavour to his character. but i definitely don’t think that’s what akutami was implying with that answer 😭 i doubt gojo thinks about his mother much at all. but the idea of him having a subconscious longing for maternal love is tasty to me… for hurt/comfort purposes….

anyway <3 bottom line, i definitely agree that gojo would need someone who understands him (even if i don’t think anyone really could). when he falls for someone i think he sticks to them no matter what, and i doubt age is a real factor in that :3 don’t get me wrong i do think he deserves a hot sugar daddy boyfriend but that’s just me being me. i really don’t see him caring about age much at all!!!

[iobartach]

GET TO KNOW YOUR ADMIN !!

name — Nix

pronouns — anything at all tbh, i don't mind!

preferred comms — leaning more towards discord than tumblr; i am just a slow replier / not available at times. so gimme a shout if you ever wanna share discord usernames!

name of muse — miguel o'hara / spider-man 2099

experience in RP — coming up fast on 18ish years this july, i think? 🥴tumblr's been the platform i've used the most, i came over from bebo, the original version, way back in the day, and also gave forum and discord server rps a go, but eh, i just like the format of tumblr more? especially for being able to make themes and stuff.

best experiences — fortunate to have had plenty of 'em! with miguel though, i have to say it's been especially fun? i really missed the whole aspect of meeting new people and crafting plots / crossovers when it comes to RP, as i had slowed down on writing for a while to get my career started. but now, i'm so glad to be back at it , more often!

pet peeves/dealbreakers — ahhh, let's see, i've gotten laid back af the longer i've been writing? the things that i appreciate nowadays are when folks take the time out to read over my guidelines, headcanons, bio (it's so poorly written, i am so sorry) etc, but i'm not gonna be a hardass about telling you to do so, either? like, someone taking the time to read my hcs is cool! going the extra mile and mentioning them in threads / plots? damn, kudos to you, i can't thank you enough! and if someone has any questions? my door's always open, i will ramble at you until the crack of dawn about miguel if you give me the chance 😂 but yeah with all that said, i'm not gonna hassle or bother folks if they don't read my stuff or ask me questions.!

that said, though, i do wanna point out that there are some specific things to my flavour of miguel that i'm trying to be consistent about? which, for anyone who's known me for years shouldn't be surprising to hear. i've been meaning to add them to my pinned post for my own / other's reference, and 100% accept that i don't call or jot them down as often as i should, it's all kinda just sitting in my head! oops!

and well... to that end, i'd also like to tentatively say... please don't automatically make assumptions / presumptions about my take on miguel, either? 🙏 yes, he's arisen from the atsv version, which i acknowledge can attract certain... notions. but, at the same time, please respect that he's not a soundboard or a thirst trap. he's a guy that, in my telling, fucked up, royally and is trying to deal with that, in his own way.

same also goes for no meaning no. both in-character and out-of-character. miguel will be blunt / react accordingly to things he doesn't vibe with (physical touch, dehumanising comments [deliberate or otherwise], etc), especially with strangers / unfamiliar people -- and for myself, i've been in enough rpcs for long enough to not allow myself to be strongarmed into doing certain things. i'd expand more about my previous experiences, but a munday post ain't the place for that, so yeah. i just would be grateful for any acknowledgement of this. all i wanna do is write one spidery guy, in relative peace, at my own pace & leisure. cheers !

muse preference ( fluff, angst, smut ) — i'm a glutton for a bit of everything, but i kinda lean lately more towards action and slice of life. fluff is good, but i try to approach it so that i don't overdo it -- same with angst, i thrive on it, but again, all things in moderation ! and of course, if mutuals ever feel like i'm leaning hard towards a particular genre (which i've a tendency to do!), feel free to pull me back a bit, i won't mind!

plot or memes — memes are the balm for my soul, i stg <3 i love how they can be icebreakers, as well as the perfect thing to spark some muse inspiration after spending the weekdays working. i do love to plot, too, and i've been thinking of doing a lot more of it lately, especially as i grow to learn about another mun's muse, but i'm also a bit of a slow burner when it comes to that, largely because of how much of my week is taken up by work (a blessing and a curse :() . so if you're fine with plots & long form threads progressing over months, absolutelyyy hit me up! 👀

long or short replies — cackling me + short reply is rarer than hen's teeth🤣 i can't do one-liners for the life of me, so you'll always get a small paragraph or two. i love doing long replies, especially if my writing muse is thriving, but never fear about matching reply length or anything! i just ... can't shut up, sometimes, lmao.

best time to write — weekdays are a huge hit or miss 🥴 sometimes, i'm able to write, more times, i'm not. so weekends, when i have the time to chill and relax, not stress about things, is when i find my motivation to write thrives the most

are you like your muse? — in one very specific way maybe; little patience for assholes 🤣 . i'd love to be able to take things on the chin, but eh, stupid stuff can get to me at times. if anything, i feel i'm more like miguel's brother gabriel, and i both love and work in tech rather than in science. worked a two-year stint in a medical corpo and i came out the other side vowing to never again do that. 🥴 i'd also love to be a smartass and have miguel's dry wit, but alas i'm just a funky irish potato.🤣

Tagged: @pzfr

Tagging: anyone who wants to steal this!

[nightingaletrash]

Hey friend! I hope you're doing well. After admiring it from afar for a long time, I bought the Dragon Age games on mega sale. Do you have any suggestions for mods I should use to play? Thank you!

okay so, first off, welcome to hell I hope you enjoy your stay because there is no being normal about Dragon Age once you're in deep enough <3

second off

how much time and disk space do you have? because I use *a lot* of mods

First off, there is a learning curve to modding Dragon Age. DAO is deceptive in how easy it is to mod because for many mods, the installation is as simple as 'drop file in the override file' but there are some caveats based on how the engine works and it pays to understand what files are what, and what they do. DA2 is an almost identical process but tends to be much less finicky in practice, and DAI is infamous for being trickier by comparison due to the fact you have to use the Frosty Mod Manager, but you don't necessarily need to know the different types of files like you do with the other two.

If you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask, I'm happy to share whatever I know ^^

So starting with DAO, here are some mods I'd recommend:

Unofficial Remaster - what it says on the tin, this mod includes higher resolution textures and introduces some updated models to create consistency with the later entries in the series. There used to be a lot more involved, including other mods that help increase cohesion between games but a lot of that was cut because people bugged the mod author too much about it.

Natural Lighting - makes the character creator less dark ^^

Female Proportion Fixes - there are three versions of this mod, one for humans, dwarves and elves respectively because the originals are pretty damn bad. Humans come with two variations, Sensual and Seductress - you only need to choose one.

Elf Update - this is entirely optional, as it essentially swaps the elven designs with the less-human elf designs used in DA2. Elf Update comes with its own version of the proportions fix, so if you chose to use this, you don't need Elf Proportion Fix.

Neutral Female Armours - does away with the atrocious boobplates that plague Origin's ladies. Luckily, a similar mod wasn't needed for DA2 and DAI because Bioware largely got their shit together. There is a compatibility patch for the proportion fix mods - those files need to overwrite the corresponding files in this mod. The Unofficial Remaster also includes some retextures for this mod as an optional file.

Extra Dog Slot - because the Dog is a very good boy and deserves to come along on quests without taking up a companion slot.

Dragon Age Redesigned - again this is optional, as I use this mod solely for non-companion NPCs, as bioware's originals sometimes look a bit odd. If used with Elf Update you'd need to delete all of the elf headmorphs included in this mod to avoid getting the wrong heads showing up. There's three options to choose between, Lore, Balanced, and Aesthetic.

Goblet De-Gobbler - tackles a pretty well-known bug with modded armours and rectifies some little inconsistencies with a particular sequence.

Thedosian Grey Wardens OR Grey Wardens of Ferelden - DA2 and DAI gave Wardens a uniform, yet there's none whatsoever in Origins. Which is odd because everyone seems to recognise you as a Warden on sight. Thedosian Wardens uses the Inquisition armour models while GWOF uses the DA2 model so it comes down to personal preference. Personally I'm a Thedosian fan and use it and it's related mods - searching Thedosian on the Origins nexus will bring them all up. It's pretty much everything you need for GWOF is pretty much included in the mod however. There are also some good retextures for both available by VagranDreamer.

Origin Unique Grey Warden Armour - adds some GWOF style armour with some unique flavour. These are included in Vagran Dreamer's retexture series.

Thedosian Wardens Arsenal - new Warden themed weapons. GWOF does include weaponry as well, but this stuff is my preference. It also contains scripts that allow it to replace all NPC Warden loadouts with this weaponry

Complete Bi Overhaul - because it could be gayer. Also includes some optional files to either stop certain male NPCs hitting on a female Warden or to get them to hit on a male Warden.

There really are so many more that I could like like character creation mods and NPC morphs I use, but I don't want to overwhelm you with info. I literally use too many mods XD

For DA2, here's my top hits:

Kirkwall Expanded - a really cool mod that adds new little quests to the game, a bounty board, and just livens up the city.

Automatic Chargen - opens the CC in the transitions between the acts (this game is divided into three acts with time skips between them), so if you want to mess with the idea of your character changing over the years, this mod is 10/10

NEW Import Vault Fixes and Editable Vault - essentially a bug fixer oriented around the content imported from your Origins save, and adds the ability to tweak the worldstate in game

Sapphim's Dialogue Mini Mods - a collection of little mods that alter some conversations to tone down some unnecessary sexism and to let the game be a lil bit gayer (and shut Gamlen's damn mouth)

Wardens of Weisshaupt - puts all Warden characters in Warden gear, and gives you a choice between shiny Inquisition ported armours like Thedosian Wardens or the original DA2 models ^^

Again there are dozens more mods I could recommend in regards to armour, headmoprhs, companion gear etc but those largely come down to preference so it's best to find what you like for yourself ^^

Then there's DAI. Keep in mind that for a long time, the go-to mod manager was DAIMM. Mods from that period are DAI.mod files; nowadays most people use Frosty Mod Manager and a lot of mods are made with Frosty, as its more powerful. Some dai.mods do work with Frosty, but it can be hit and miss.

Complete War Table Operations Without Waiting - For Frosty - DAI's war table operations take real time to complete, which is terribly impractical if you actually want to just clear them out and get them done. This mod changes the waiting time so the operations are completed automatically or have a very short wait time

Less Shards Please - An Oculara Rebalance - you might have heard of the tedious shard side quest; this mod makes it significantly less tedious.

Party Banter Tweaks - Inquisition's banter is unfortunately kinda buggy, so this mod gives you a better chance of hearing your companions talk to each other! There's a lot of great convos you don't wanna miss ^^

Enhanced Character Creator - adds even more sliders and options to CC, as well as a hair slot unique to the Inquisitor that some modders use so that Inky's hairstyle isn't shared with random NPCs. It can be a lot to take in, but once you have a grasp of it, you can really customise your character extensively

Dialogue Wheel Overhaul - completely changes the way the game’s dialogue wheel works to make it more cohesive, universal, and functional

Modded Hair in DLCs - what it says on the tin; the DAI DLCs are a bit finnicky with hair mods, and this is one of the ways around it

And as usual, there's loads more I could add but if I did, this post would need links for potentially hundreds of mods lmao

sorry this took me a while, I may have overwhelmed myself a bit because I literally use hundreds of mods in these games, and I didn't want to overload you with mods and information. If you need any help, let me know because there's a lot to know. Origins can be deceptively tricky thanks to the engine and its the one that has caused me the most headaches lol

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

I love when writers add flavour to their x reader stories by giving the reader different dynamics so much because it not only allows for us readers to explore different types of stories and facets of our personalities but also opens up for all different types of pairings;

The kind and soft hearted reader who is always open minded to the one character that needs that balance and compassion

The gruff and emotionally closed off reader who deserves to be comforted and feel safe instead of feeling constantly (emotionally or physically) on the defense

The elegant and poised reader who gets a character that compliments their grace and allows them to slip from their persona when needed while still not mocking or admonishing their poise

The nerdy and knowledgeable reader with a dumb character that still loves hearing them rant about their interests despite not understanding a thing because they deserve to be listened to

I also love me some dumpster-fire-wet-cat-found-in-the-back-of-an-alleyway reader and I think it's hilarious every time

What reader dynamics do you enjoy and which types of stories/pairings do you like to see them with? (Basically ship dynamics but specifically what fanfic you'd read about them)

And what type of reader have you not yet written (or read if that fits) for (for a certain character or in general) that you'd like to try?

Me, personally, I would love to see Mihawk with an absolute we-found-it-eating-our-garbage-and-we-think-it-has-rabies-but-fuck-it-its-our-mascot-now reader

Mihawk: I have high standards

Reader, offhandedly as they walk by: This morning I fought a rat for half a bagel... I lost. That was a new low.

Mihawk, internally: fuck, they're meeting all my standards!

Or with a himbo, honestly. I love me some himbo reader (I love thembo&bimbo but my preference is specifically for himbo, which transcends gender btw, all heart and muscle and no brain)

There really aren't many that I don't enjoy writing/reading. But in particular I'm really big on oposites-atract situations.

Like:

Zoro with a silly bubbly reader that makes him lighten up a little

Sanji with a romantically oblivious reader that his flirting just doesn't work on

Shanks with serious reader that struggles to keep the dumb himbo in line but still thinks he's just adorable

Buggy's overdramatic ass with an aloof reader that knows how to calm him down

Crocodile is an exception here because I wanna pair him with character/reader that's just as cunning and manipulative as he is and watch the whole thing catch fire, I'm thinking about it way too much and I'm bound to start writing him and Wren before long

And definitely Mihawk, as composed and high-maintenance as he is, with the human equivalent of an opossum. Just an absolute dumpster-fire of a reader. Acting all annoyed about it but secretly finding it endearing and feeling compelled to take care of them. Honestly the exact dynamic I'm aiming for with him and Karimi in Hearing Problems, with her total disregard for self-preservation.

I've never written a himbo reader since I primarily write female readers, but they're among my favorite breed of character in general. Janx and Lyon provide my himbo fix. Just writing dumb little drabbles of their interactions for my own entertainment.

"Maaaan." Janx spun the globe sitting on top of the desk in the captain's cabin. "I hate it when ovens explode."

"Again?" Lyon's brow furrowed as he looked up at his first mate, turning his own attention from a map also sitting on the desk. "Is that why you look like you've been on fire recently?"

"More or less, yes," he said, shrugging slightly as he continued his examination of the globe.

"And you caused it, I'm assuming?" He shrugged slightly again. "Wren's going to murder you in your sleep one of these days." He was met with yet another noncomittal shrug. Lyon shook his head and looked back down at the map. He frowned at it for a few moments before picking it up, crumbling it into a ball, and tossing it over his shoulder in annoyance, grumbling under his breath about coordinates before turning his attention back to his first mate. "You're paying for the new one out of your cut this time."

"But I spent everything in Jaya. We were out of whiskey, we needed more, so I took the liberty of purchasing it myself."

"The fact that you're the reason we were out notwithstanding—"

"And what are we supposed to do until I get the money?" Janx went on lamenting, ignoring the accusation. "Not eat? I can't not eat. The oven is in flames right now because I was being forced to not eat."

"But I feel like I need to be thinking straight," said Lyon, still blinking in a confused manner.

Janx opened the door and looked over. "Then you're too sober for your own damned good."

The crew didn't return until later that evening, and when they did, they found Janx collapsed in the middle of the deck, covered in raw egg, pieces of eggshell, feathers, and ink. He smelled of something like dirty mop water and looked as though he had been utterly defeated. A few stopped to snigger at him, but most just walked past and ignored him. Lyon stopped by him upon finding him and looked down at him, giving a snort of laughter.

"Learned your lesson, I take it?"

Janx managed to sit up and nodded. "I had to chase her all over the ship for five hours straight," he said weakly. "I'm so tired I could sleep for weeks. I've learned that the next time you tell me I'm babysitting your hellspawn, I should probably just jump ship and let the ocean take me."

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

I don’t know if you’ve had an ask like this before so I’m sorry if you have but what are your favourite bsd dynanics romantic wise?

Honestly, romantically, I tend to not have very many solid preferences. I can see the appeal of a lot of dynamics, and for the most part I tend to enjoy seeing people's different takes on ships in bsd, and also just analyzing the dynamics outside of romance.

I do like skk, a lot, mostly due to Stormbringer. They're silly and there's a lot of good stuff for me to pull at, things about identity and humanity and living; all that good stuff that makes them so interesting to play with. I find it fun to add romantic or sexual tension to them as a little extra flavour - but they are more of a "those two guys" kind of dynamic to me, where they are intertwined and hate it and they're friends but they'll never admit it but they're also perfectly in sync as partners. I enjoy seeing how different people's interpretations are on them. They're ridiculous, and that's half the joy.

As for other ships, I'm pretty much open? The thing is, the themes of bsd are captured in the character arcs, and so there are a lot of parallels that can be drawn between any two or more characters. Most of the time, I look at people's ships and go, "huh, I see how that could be interesting", and enjoy it. I also enjoy joining in on fandom jokes, which often do have a shippy element to them - it's funny, and I like to be a part of things lol. I'm also a believer that romance is like a little extra bonus on top of a foundation of themes or friendship or tension, and I'm more apt to play with dynamics in a non-romantic sense myself. So, yeah, I'm open to many bsd ships, but not really a huge shipper.

Real ones know that my bsd otp is Higuchi and Gin though, hehe.

[doubleaspectrum]

Ouran High School Host Club Ep. 4 Review

Previous Reviews:

To Episode 1 Review.

To Episode 2 Review.

To Episode 3 Review.

What Am I Reviewing?

Ouran High School Host Club – Episode 4: Attack of the Lady Manager!

Have I Seen This Before?

Once.

Which Character is the Strongest in Terms of Writing?

Interestingly enough, Renge is simultaneously the strongest and weakest character of the episode. I’ll talk more on the weak points later, but for now I’ll focus on the strong points.

Renge is strong because she’s well-written. Her character is one that infuriates me very much, but the way she’s written helps her make sense. Throughout the episode, Renge is presented as being a shut-in, a jerk, a romcom trope aficionado, and being incapable of distinguishing reality from fiction. We see in the beginning of the episode why this makes sense.

Everything comes down to Renge having a rich and coddling father. Not many people can successfully become shut-ins because something will catch up to them. It can be hunger, rent-payments, hygiene, disease, family, or friends. Simply put, a shut-in isn’t something you can feasibly be in the real world because internal or external influences will intervene. But Renge is a character who can realistically get away with it because her father is rich and is coddling her. Though to be honest, when I say “coddling” the truth of the matter is more the right combination of care and neglect.

Renge’s father keeps his daughter alive and happy, while also doing nothing to help her mature. This explains every other aspect of her character. She is a jerk because she was raised to be enabled at every turn, effectively making her a total brat. She can’t distinguish between fiction and reality because she’s taken her nerdy obsessions too far and her father has done nothing to mitigate it.

Outside of Renge’s father justifying her character by being his own flavour of a terrible parent, there is one thing that adds to the strength of Renge’s character.

I accidentally read a trope on Renge’s TV Tropes character page that reveals that she was right about each Host Club member when assigning their “dark sides” to them. This means that her place in the overall canon is justified because she’s foreshadowed how each character will be explored. Something I’d like to say about this is that the trope description only said that she was accurate, nothing else was specified. To put it simply, I know that she was right, I do not know how she was right.

Which Relationship is Strongest in Terms of Writing?

Haruhi and Tamaki.

Their dynamic remains the same; Tamaki is a drama queen spouting fluff while showing an occasional serious side to his romantic feelings while Haruhi thinks he’s full of himself and tries to avoid his nonsense. The difference is that they get more one-on-one moments to contribute to their growing romance. It is particularly emphasized that Tamaki’s romantic feelings for Haruhi are serious. He was genuinely touched when she said she preferred him as he is (even if she said that to avoid more drama). Also, while we have seen Tamaki become defensive of Haruhi, this episode marks the first time he was shown losing his temper on her behalf. This furthers the emotional drama of the relationship and makes their endgame status more believable.

Which Character is Weakest in Terms of Writing?

As I said before, Renge is a strong character because she’s a character that makes sense and she contributes to the greater canon. However, she is also the weakest character of the episode for one reason. She’s dumb.

As I stated before, Renge is unable to tell reality from fiction. While her background shows why she thinks this way, it comes with two problems that weakens the episode.

The first problem is that this creates a conflict that is reliant on the Idiot Plot with none of the reasons it worked in Episode 2. In Episode 2, the conflict was successful because it was deliberately dumb to address the stupidity of romcom clichés. In this episode, Renge’s inability to distinguish reality from fiction isn’t a romcom cliché, it’s just Renge being dumb. And when the conflict boils down to an Idiot Plot, it is not compelling. Instead, the conflict is either frustrating because of how dumb it is or tiring because of how dumb it is.

The second problem is a trope known as the Anti-Escapism Aesop. When this trope shows up it uses nerdy characters like Renge and shows their problematic relationship with fiction to make a point that fiction is bad and people shouldn’t enjoy it. There are two problems with this. First, this kind of lesson is presented in a fictional medium, which is hypocritical. Second, this trope has set a long-standing history wherein the nerdy character like Renge is a stand-in for the audience. This is a very bad idea. It’s an insult to the audience when writers try to say, “This character who likes fiction is a problematic person, therefore you are a problematic person because you like fiction.”

I’ll admit that I don’t know if Renge is meant to be an example of the Anti-Escapism Aesop, but that trope has already set a pattern of insulting the audience. Either way, I see Renge’s problematic behaviour as a bad writing decision, because it carries an insult that an audience wouldn’t take kindly to.

Which Relationship is Weakest in Terms of Writing?

Nothing comes to mind. There is no relationship that brings the episode down.

How is the Conflict?

It’s stupid. The basis of this episode’s conflict is an Idiot Plot, with Renge’s inability to distinguish fiction from reality being the source of it all. This idea of the “inability to distinguish fiction from reality” is especially bad to have a key character presenting in a story, because the existence of the Anti-Escapism Aesop has set a pattern where that characteristic is a reflection of the audience. What I mean is that by having a character who is fiction-obsessed and showing them as an idiot, the writer can be seen as saying, “That idiot is you” to the audience.

Let it be known that I despise the Anti-Escapism Aesop and all that it implies. It always brings a work down by insulting audience members for daring to enjoy stories, and artists for writing them.

The only saving grace for this conflict is that when Renge gets called out for her nonsense, Haruhi is making a point that people are better than what Renge believes.

Is there Anything Else I can Praise or Criticize?

I didn’t give enough credit to Haruhi calling Renge out for her nonsense. Haruhi’s ultimate message to Renge was less about calling her an idiot and more about saying that humanity is good. This is something I can appreciate because it fits into an overall theme of the show. This moment fits in conjunction with Haruhi telling Suzushima that people can change the moment they choose to, and Tamaki choosing to give Yabu a fair chance to talk to his daughter. All three of these moments fit a pattern of the show’s formula. Part of that formula is the moral lesson ending with a message that humanity is inherently good. This presents the show’s intention of spreading an idealistic message and trying to restore faith in humanity. And that is something I can get behind.

What Writing Lesson Can I Take from This Episode?

I’d recommend never using the Anti-Escapism Aesop. It has set too much of an insulting example for too long, so I can’t see it being welcome anywhere. If you choose to use it anyways then be very careful.

[esper-union-lounge]

🌌Mid-Autumn Festival

🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕

Image from ilikedyourablogithere

It's been a while since I made a "Review post". This my first actual "Review".

In this upcoming update, I can see there are a number of things that are associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival, especially with the new Esper, Emma.

For this review, I am not going to go into depth about the myths associated with Mid-Autumn Festival because: 1. People always talk about Chang er's story to the point I feel like beating a dead horse.

2. I just think it would be more interesting to do a "Review" about my own 2 cents instead of retelling the same old story.

I was in for a surprise when I saw her design. I immediately knew the dev team are preparing for a Mid-Autumn update. This year's Mid-Autumn would be a little different. This is due to the date falling so close to China's National Day on 1st of October. Thus, a longer holiday. The more reason to enjoy the festivity of Mid-Autumn.

Image from the Dislyte Wiki

First of all, I was not expecting Emma to be a fully transformed animal Esper, like Trevor. So this is a really nice surprise.

I was begining to find Dislyte suffering from a similar design pattern of Bi-shouen/Bi-Shoujo designs, like the other mobile game, Onmyoji.

And, I think, the charm about Dislyte is their character designs uses a more western design approach to create characters while still having traces of influence from the dev's lens.((I am not saying which approach is better, be it western, Anime, or indie, they are all wonderful in their own ways. And, I am not here to create animosity. If you find my opinion not suited to your taste, tough.))

Emma's design reminds me of a Moon cake box for some reason. Nowadays, Moon cake boxes are designed and packaged lavishly, as if they are some sort of artwork of their own.

This, for one, attracts more young people to purchase moon cakes, paired with all the other modern and wacky flavours developed over the years. Two, it makes a perfect gift for friends and family.

The details of her wearing an astronaut suit, is really fun and cute, and I think it is a clever way to convey the Jade Rabbit's assosiation to the moon. I can see how Emma's design can be seen as one of a possible design on a Moon cake box.

I like how they gave her a pestle and mortar, in reference to the role of the Jade rabbits; often seen as pharmacist. Not the mention, the eye brows!

Her eyebrows stood out to me, because of how whimsical it is. I am guessing it is to reference how some mythical beasts have strange looking eyebrows or marks on their forehead. (I am sure Fushi got some wack eyebrows too.)

Honestly, I can't wait to see how she plays out in the gameplay, and her adventures with Ethan.

Image from the Dislyte Wiki

As for Heng Yue, I wasn't expecting to get her new skin for free. But it's Mid-Autumn, so... *shrugs*

To me, her new skin design, it got a nice colour scheme going on, but I feel as though, the dev team could do a little bit more than to simply give Heng Yue the typical Chang er design.

I understand that, Heng Yue's original design is somewhat in reference to the Hanfu boom in China; the trend where people uses Hanfu cuttings to design trendy and modern clothing.

This is just a personal preference, but I think if the devs could give the Chang er look with a refreshing modern edge, I think Heng Yue would look really cool and it fits more into the hip hop scene of Dislyte. I also think if the dev could add a Mid-Autumn special SFX effects in her in gameplay, that would be cool, and really complete the skin package.

As for the feature event, I unfortunately haven't picked it up since Javid, so I couldn't really make a comment or review about that.

Overall, I am looking forward to the upcoming patch, see what Mid-Autumn has installed for us.

-Esper Union Lounge