#they're not meant as a replacement for the medium????

[despair-tea]

Man who has not even considered reading a book this year: Why would I want to read a VISUAL novel? I don't need the pictures! I'll just read a regular book The girl who is desperately trying to crack his egg because "she'd be so fuckable you don't understand":

[usmsgutterson]

Thunderstorm- Mike Schmidt x gn! reader

All right! I said I would go feral if I didn't get the chance to write for Mike Schmidt after seeing the fnaf movie yesterday. I wasn't kidding and I really like the rain/thunderstorm + slow dancing and softness fic tropes so I used them!

I will say right now that my requests for Mike are open! My requests for Mike are open through the rest of the week and might be open through the weekend but I haven't made any concrete decisions yet. Fall event requests are open for him too because I have no sense of self preservation in terms of fic writing and I would love the chance to write a few of the prompts listed there with Mike.

Fic type- fluff!

Warnings- none!

When you wake after falling asleep while watching a bad mid-sixties horror movie, you are somewhat shocked to find that the mild rain that has been occurring throughout the day has turned into a full blown thunderstorm. Never do such things grace the city and it is a shock because it was three when you'd fallen asleep, five when you woke up, but it looks like its nine with how dark the sky is.

When you wake, you laugh a bit at yourself. Of course you'd fallen asleep--the horror movie you'd decided to watch had been a combination of laughable terror and drift-to-sleep boringness. It was a doomed combination from the start.

Slowly, you peel yourself from Mikes side, replacing your body with a couch pillow and pressing a feather light kiss to the side of his head as you proceed through the low light of the living room into the kitchen, ready to call the local pizzeria and make an order so that you can both say you ate something half-decent for dinner.

You order in a whisper so as not to wake Mike, make sure you have two twenties in your wallet to cover a large pizza, a medium--which you'd ordered so that you had lunch at work for the few days to follow, and you'd split it with Mike so that he had something to eat on his shifts--and a couple of drinks.

When the call is done, you start to debate making tea. The kettle will scream and wake Mike, however, so unless you use a coffeemaker absent of coffee, it's kind of out of the question.

Then you move to your fridge and start pondering the drink options.

And then you feel arms wrapping around your waist, a chin pressing against your shoulders.

"'S late, isn't it?" Comes Mikes voice, tired and groggy and handsomely so.

"Nah," you respond, closing the fridge. "Just looks it--Utah never gets thunderstorms in autumn. Clock said it was five when I woke up, now it's not gotta be too much after 5:15. Ordered us pizza for dinner."

Mike laughs as he presses his lips against your shoulder. "Mmmmmm," he hums happily. "I love you, Y/N."

"Damn right you do, Mikey. Did you sleep okay?"

"Never do," he says. "Did you?"

"Never do," you echo.

You feel his grin, sigh as you look at the counter in front of you and sigh contentedly when you feel Mikes lips against the back of your neck.

"Just us," he whispers. "No stress. None of that outside world bullshit. Just us."

You nod, leaning back against him as the two of you start to sway. "Just us," you whisper back, turning around and pulling him into a hug, the swaying continuing even as you do so.

Moments like those are rare, but they're sweet. You and Mike are both so busy--you with work and friends and family and Mike with trying to keep a job and look after his sister while also dealing with his aunt and her bullshit--and so you never get to just...decompress. It's lovely to get that chance, and you cherish it like you know you're meant to because you never know when again it'll occur.

"I love you, Mike," you whisper, pulling away from the sway-hug and offering him a grin. "So much."

You've been together since a few months before you graduated high school, were waiting to have Mike and Abby move in until you'd paid off the mortgage you took out when you were eighteen and in need of a place within an hour of your college campus because you didn't want to ask Mike to help you pay it. Moments like those hadn't been frequent since the two of you would poke fun at the worst of your teachers and panic about studying for calculus tests.

Life had been so much simpler then, but you'd loved every bit of it and it's complexity for moments like that one. You cherished those moments, every hug, every kiss, every slow dance in the dimmest kitchen lights.

"I love you too," he says. "'M sorry I've been distant lately."

You shake your head. "It's fine," you say, because it is. "I'm just happy you're here now."

Mike nods. "Yeah. Love you too much to leave you behind. You've been stuck with me twelve years now, and just because I have yet to propose doesn't mean you're not stuck with me for the rest of our lives."

You laugh, pull him close. You press your forehead against his and it's all just so...perfect. Things feel good. They feel like they have a shot at being okay, and you have to believe they will for both of your sakes.

In that moment, though, you have Mike. Mike has you. That, in and of itself, is enough.

[kpopsexstories]

Could you please make a haechan x reader story with lots of dirty talking and him meeting the reader on stage and like they make out backstage after? Please make the reader female thank you and happy Valentine's Day

One-shot #1: Lee Dong-Hyuck spots you in the audience and takes you backstage for a hot make-out session (*requested*)

This is the first story in my Mixed One-shots series, with smut that can be about any group, member and even non-kpop celebrities. Unlike my Quick Fix series, One-shots can be a little longer and story-driven.

This story is a response to the above request. Thanks for submitting requests, they're super motivating 😊

One-shot #1: LEE DONG-HYUCK (NCT Haechan)

Celebrity: Lee Dong-hyuck (NCT Haechan)

Content: Dirty talk, Standing

Type of Sex: MEDIUM

Word Count: 4k

When NCT announced a show you would actually be able to attend you were ecstatic. When you managed to get tickets, you nearly screamed yourself mute of happiness. That indescribable feeling of joy was the best day of your life – so far.

Then came the day of the event, which trumped anything else. During and after the show, several things happened that would make it a day you would never forget. Several once-in-a-lifetime memories were made that day, and you still can't believe what happened.

First of all, you had an excellent spot, in the pit by the stage. It meant seeing your idols up close, and only a few songs in you were already coarse from all the screaming.

Second, Haechan spotted you in the crowd, and he couldn't take his eyes off you for the remainder of the performance. Every time he came on stage he looked for you, and he passed your section more than any other throughout the night. At one point, your presence even made him forget the lyrics. The crowd went wild; they loved his adorable mess-up, and Haechan was so cute the way he handled it by laughing it off. You could swear he gave you a naughty wink afterwards.

Third, the highlight – by far – was not the show itself though. It was what happened after.

A security guard approached you as the arena was clearing out, and for a moment your heart sank to the pit of your stomach. Your instinct told you that you were in trouble for something, but you had no idea what.

The guard tried to calm you down but failed. He took you backstage, where your worry only intensified. But it was quickly replaced with a mix of shock, excitement and joy, when you were led into a small room where someone was waiting for you.

The room had a small couch in the center, a vending machine, and a desk with two computers against the far wall. It looked like a combination of a lounging area and make-shift office. Haechan was sitting on the couch, and he quickly jumped up and smiled when he saw you.

“Hi!” he exclaimed.

You were stunned. “Ehm, hi?” you eventually managed to say, and a sudden nervous feeling rushed over you. The security guard nodded to Haechan, then turned to you to ask if you were okay. You smiled back at him as confirmation, and he quickly left the room and closed the door behind him.

“What's going on?” you asked.

“I wanted to see you,” Haechan said. He quickly realized how odd the situation must be for you. ”I mean, I saw you in the crowd. You seemed so into the show. I wanted to, ehm, I wanted to… to thank you for coming, I guess? And to see if maybe you wanted a backstage tour, or something? Maybe I didn't think this through…”

A number of thoughts raced through your mind. When the initial shock had settled, you figured that the members offering private tours was perhaps a normal thing. But there was something about the way Haechan explained himself that made it all feel wrong.

And so, you composed yourself, and took a direct, honest and visibly skeptical approach, one Haechan probably didn't expect. “Do you usually bring girls to private rooms like this?”

Haechan was now the one who became nervous, as this was certainly not a normal occurrence at all. But instead of being apologetic and explain himself further, the words that came out of his mouth were those he was actually thinking:

“Only pretty ones.”

He immediately regretted the words. He knew he was crossing boundaries. But this statement was a turning point, an important moment that would define the direction of the rest of your evening.

You could have laughed it off, and simply accepted the tour he had offered. You could have questioned him further, and maybe taken offense by the way your idol objectified you so openly. Or you could have freaked out, acting like the fan girl that you were, overwhelmed by the fact that you were alone in a room with a man whose posters were plastered all over your walls.

Instead, you did exactly what a lot of girls would have wanted to do in your situation, but which very few would likely dare to do. Haechan's words had given you an opening, and you, too, said exactly what came to mind.

“I can be more than just pretty for you.”

Haechan let out a laugh, then his face turned dead serious when he realized you weren't laughing along with him. “Like what?” he asked, throwing the ball back in your court.

You took a step closer to the man. “You're still sweaty from the show,” you noted and smiled.

“Does that turn you off?” Haechan asked.

“No, it turns me on,” you said.

That's how quickly your relationship was established, and from here things escalated fast.

Making out starts here...

Now, Haechan was the one to take a step closer to you. He stared into your eyes, as if he was trying to read you. You did the same to him. To anyone watching from the outside, it was clear that something was going on between you. It had been obvious to both of you already during the performance, when your eyes constantly met and your heart was beating so fast. What you always suspected had now been confirmed; Haechan had been checking you out.

Now, in this room, the spark between you became real. And perhaps that's why you dared to take a big risk. When Haechan entered your personal space, you quickly leaned in and kissed him.

Haechan didn't even hesitate. He immediately kissed you back, and before you knew it you were making out, next to the couch in the middle of the room.

Haechan put his hands on your waist, and pushed your body back. He followed you passionately as you took multiple steps backwards, and never took his lips off yours. Soon you hit the closed door behind you with a bang. was security still around? Any staff walking past outside surely must have heard.

The desire you had always felt for the idol, and the one he had felt all evening, quickly took hold of you both. Pinned against the back of the door, you continued to make out with a sudden wild, untamed passion. Haechan's hands were on your waist and ass before you had a chance to react, and once you did react you wrapped your arms around his shoulders.

What happened was insane, but that fact never crossed your mind in the moment. You had desired the man for years, and now he wanted you too. You were more than happy to just roll with it.

While you eagerly sucked and kissed each other's lips, Haechan let his hands explore your body. He briefly touched your breast, and a hand soon slid inside your shirt. You didn't stop him.

“Damn you're sexy,” Haechan moaned. “I swear though, I've never done this before.”

And it was the truth. Though you didn't know what to believe, Haechan was not he type of guy to bring random fans backstage to make out with them. He had spotted you, been unable to take his mind off you, and taken a chance by bringing you here. He had never expected that things would go in the direction they now did, and certainly not this fast.

And the fact that things continued was largely thanks to you. When Haechan started talking dirty to you, you immediately jumped onboard.

“Fuck, Hyuck,” you said. “You're so hot.”

When you said his name, Haechan pressed his body closer against yours. You spread your legs slightly, feeling his pelvis rub against yours. You wanted each other so bad, and all barriers had already been broken down.

“Oh, baby,” Haechan continued. ”I'm so sweaty because you're the one who's so hot. The way you moved your body in the audience. I didn't see anyone else, it was as if I was performing only for you. You made me so horny, you have no idea.”

“Ah, keep talking.”

“I had to sit down on stage because of you. You took my breath away, and made me so hard. I had to hide my boner. And damn, you're a bad girl aren't you, because you made me forget the lyrics.”

You held on tight around Haechan's neck, as he kept moaning into your mouth in between violent kisses. His hands on your waist inside your shirt felt warm and comforting, and were an incredible turn-on.

“Ahh, your body feels so good,” he continued. ”Mm, baby, are you really here? Is this really happening?”

“I'm here,” you said and smiled, while sticking your tongue out. The wet tips of your tongues met, and you began to play around in each other's mouths.

The way Haechan spoke to you was an insane turn-on too, and you wanted to encourage him further. “What do you want to do to me?” you asked.

“I wanna lick you. Daamn, I'm so fucking horny right now.”

Haechan's hand moved up your waist and found your breast under the shirt. He cubbed it over your bra, and he suddenly stopped sucking your tongue and buried his face in your neck. He quickly began to lick it, with long, wet strokes against your skin.

A shiver went down your spine when Haechan traced your neck. You held on tighter around him, and moved an arm down around his waist and back. When his body pressed hard against yours, you raised a leg and wrapped it around his thighs.

“Ahh, Hyuck, this feels amazing!” you said, and you could swear you felt the boner in his pants. ”Don't stop, please. Suck my neck, Hyuck. Mm, yeah, I'm so wet.”

“Fuck babe, so eager,” Haechan grinned by your ear. He raised his head and kissed your cheek. ”I don't even know your name.”

“Who's eager?” you asked and giggled, then turned to face him and quickly re-focused the dirty talk. “I'll be anything for you, remember? I'll be your slut if you want me to.”

Maybe that was going too far, but you felt no regrets. And to your relief, Haechan was onboard too.

“Ohh, yeah, my sexy slut,” he moaned into your mouth, while rubbing the full length of his body passionately against you. He started to rock his hips back and forth, pressing his boner harder and harder between your legs. ”You make me so fucking horny. I'm so glad I met you. You're such a hot slut and I love it. Do you always come back stage to have sex with the band?”

You laughed again, and suddenly pulled Haechan's head back by the hair. “Who said anything about sex?” you asked with a naughty grin.

“Oh, come on, you asked what I wanted to do to you. I don't believe you'd call yourself a slut if you weren't talking about sex.”

You looked him in the eye and smiled. “You're right, I wouldn't. It's any fan's dream to have sex with you, isn't it? Fuck, Hyuck, you make us all so weak. Who wouldn't want your cock inside them? I bet you're great with it too, aren't you?”

“Mm, damn girl, I like the way you talk. That's right, stroke my ego.”

“I know a lot of girls who would kill to see you naked.”

Haechan brushed his nose against your face, and bent in to lick the other side of your neck. “Is that what you want, huh? To see me naked? Maybe today is my lucky day.”

You tightened the grip of your leg around Haechan's thigh, squeezing his boner between your bodies.

“I want your cock inside me,” you whispered, then pulled his face back up and stuck your tongue in his mouth again.

Haechan was getting weak in his knees, but met your tongue with his. You loosened the grip of his hair and continued to make out, while he slammed his hips repeatedly against you.

When his boner kept poking at you at a steady pace, desire took a new hold of Haechan. He never responded to your last statement, but stuck his hand further up your shirt. He grabbed your neck, and the shirt slid so far up that your bra came out. He was all over you, and it felt incredible.

As he dry-humped you against the door, and your chest became increasingly bare, you eventually reached down to grab his shirt. You pulled at it, and you soon felt his bare back with the palm of your hand.

When your skin touched his, Haechan suddenly took a step back. Your leg slid down his thigh, as he took his shirt and rapidly pulled it over his head. His hair became messy, and he stared at you with his mouth half open, while you glanced down at his bare chest.

“Fuck,” you said with a serious expression. “I just realized that this is real. What are we doing?”

“Don't you want to?” Haechan asked, standing half-naked, horny and exposed in front of you.

“Of course I want to. This is a dream come true. A wonderful, sexy dream.”

Haechan seemed very pleased with your response, and he attacked you with his mouth, tongue and hands again. His hand went back far up your shirt, and his naked chest and stomach rubbed erotically up and down your body.

“Damn, you really are so hot and slutty,” Haechan said while massaging your breasts and poking you with his boner. ”Fuck you're sexy!”

The whole situation made you so incredibly horny. The feeling of his body, the unashamed words he spoke, the thrilling turn of events that had happened in the last fifteen minutes of your life. While he talked dirty to you, sucked your mouth and played around with his tongue inside you, and his bare chest pressed hard against yours, you reached down between you and found the belt of his pants.

You managed to get it open, and pulled it off him with a fast yank. When the belt was off, the pants immediately slid down his legs, and you felt the boner for real for the first time. A hard shaft rubbed against you through the thin fabric of Haechan's black underwear.

“Ahh, ahh,” Haechan began to pant in your ear. The rubbing of the shaft did things to him, wonderful things, and he stopped licking and kissing you altogether.

“Take it off,” he requested when he tugged your shirt, which was already up to your neck anyway. “I wanna feel your sexy body. Mm, I wanna feel all of it so bad, you're so fucking good babe.”

“Fan of the year award?” you asked in a playful tone.

“Fan of the year award,” Haechan confirmed and grinned.

With a smile on your face, you placed a hand on Haechan's chest and pushed him away from you. You let him watch as you pulled the shirt over your head and tossed it aside, then proceeded to pull your pants down for him. You let your panties come with them and they drop to the floor. Haechan was mesmerized, and drooled out of the corner of his mouth.

“Holy fuck!” he exclaimed, then looked you in the eyes. Then he quickly leaped forward, attacking you with his hands and lips once more.

Passionate is an understatement. When he pressed you hard against the door again, you kicked your pants off your feet and jumped. You spread your legs wide and wrapped them around Haechan's ass and thighs, as he explored your naked ass with his hands and pinned you to the door. His boner poked against you repeatedly.

“Mm, Haechan,” you moaned. “Fuck me, Haechan, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me!”

Sex starts here...

Haechan suddenly reached down with one hand and grabbed his underwear. He pulled them down forcefully, rapidly as to not drop you to the floor in the process. His hard cock was freed, but you never got a chance to see it. He quickly thrust it against you, and it got squeezed between your stomachs.

Haechan took a firm grip around your ass cheeks and you adjusted your legs around him. You spread them as wide as you could for him, and held on tight around his neck.

The cock quickly found it's way, when Haechan stuck his ass out to give the cock some space. He kept thrusting passionately against you, and the cock poked around until you felt the head slide inside you. You were so wet, and he was so hard, that the whole shaft came inside you with ease.

“Ohh,” you moaned as you felt the throbbing shaft go deeper.

“Such a naughty girl,” Haechan grinned. “I'll fuck you so hard. You're so bad, coming here and doing these things to me, you deserve to be punished.”

“Oh yeah, punish me Hyuck. Punish me with your big dick.”

Haechan's thrusting quickly turned rough and animalistic, and his moans in your ear were full of lust. He moved his ass fast back and forth, his cock sliding in and out of you. You tightened your legs around his waist, and held on to his neck and shoulders for dear life. You tilted your head back, eyes closed, as he fucked you violently against the door.

“Ah, Haechan, I've been so bad!”

“Are you a bad girl?” Haechan asked.

“I'm a bad girl! Punish me, I deserve it. I'm your fucking slut! Oh yeah, fuck me Hyuck, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me!”

Haechan began to sweat again, your weight taking its toll on his arms. His thigh muscles worked hard, his grasp of your ass cheeks tightened, and his butt cheeks clenched each time he slammed his cock deep inside you.

You looked down and opened your mouth, and your lips met his again. You stuck your tongue out, and you began playing around in each other's mouths again, while breathing heavily into each other.

“Ah, Haechan,” you moaned loudly. “Hyuck, ah, ah, never, stop, Hyuck! Ah, ah, ah. Never. Stop. Fucking. Me!”

If there was a chance that anyone heard the bang when you first hit the door, there was no way no one heard you now. As Haechan kept fucking you violently, the door rattled and banged repeatedly each time your back and ass slammed against it. And your moans almost turned into screams, loud and with not a care in the world for who might pass by in the corridor on the other side.

The thought that anyone might hear you had never even crossed your mind. You were both in your own bubble, taken over by lust and sexual desire, and still surprised by how quickly things had gone this far.

You found it crazy and hard to believe that such a big star had taken an interest in you. And he found it hard to believe that he had not only managed to invite you backstage, but that you proved to be just as dirty and horny as he was. That he now got to have sex with you felt great to him. Neither of you would truly realize and appreciate the insane experience until several days after it had happened, as the bubble of incredible, spontaneous sex didn't leave much room to reflect.

The bubble burst, however, when someone suddenly tried to open the door from outside. It was pushed hard against you, and Haechan nearly lost his balance.

Surprised, he quickly let go of your ass and took a step back. His cock slid out of you. Your feet fell to the ground, and your heart sank when you realized that someone was in fact entering the room.

A strong fear quickly rushed through you. Haechan, who felt the same fear, faced the door like a deer caught in headlights. His first reaction was to cover his crotch with his hands.

Naked, in shock, and with his arms stretched and hands between his legs, he stared at the door when Johnny appeared behind it.

You were just as shocked, and your reaction was to immediately leap for your shirt on the floor and cover yourself as best you could. You quickly leaned against the wall behind the door, staring with fear at the figure peeking out behind it.

Johnny too looked surprised when he entered. It took him a second to register what he had walked in on. He glared at Haechan, who stood naked with his pants by his ankles, then quickly glanced at you. He looked back at Haechan, then he burst out laughing.

“Fuck, I'm so sorry!” he said, but he didn't move. His hand was still on the door handle, and he had a huge smile on his face.

“Fuck,” he repeated. “I should leave, shouldn't I? I'm sorry!”

With that, he quickly stepped out and closed the door behind him. Haechan immediately leaped forward and locked it.

“I should have done that from the start,” he said with a serious expression. He looked at you, and took his hand off his crotch. The dick between his legs was still rock hard.

“I'm sorry,” he said, suddenly afraid that he'd just lost you. You'd likely want to leave after what just happened.

But that was not the case. You had just seen Johnny, who was once your bias. It didn't matter that you were naked at the time. He had looked you in the eye, seen you, and spoken to you. You were incredibly excited about that, and it didn't matter that you'd just been caught in the act.

“Don't be sorry,” you said and let go of the shirt. “Can we keep going, or do you need to leave now?”

“I don't want to go anywhere. I want to lock myself in here forever. I'll never hear the end of this.”

Haechan looked like a helpless puppy, as he waddled over to the couch and kicked the pants off his feet. He sat down on the armrest, and suddenly seemed defeated.

“Hey, it happened,” you said and walked over to the man. You spread your legs and sat down on his thighs, looked down at him reassuringly and kissed his forehead. ”He saw, he left, there's nothing we can do about it now. And the door is locked now.”

Haechan raised his head, straightened his spine, placed his hands on your thighs, and smiled up at you.

“You're crazy, do you know that?” he said with a smirk.

“Not much crazier than you. You're the one who got me here.”

You smiled lovingly at him, then continued: “You know, I'm not really a slut. But being here released something in me. We've known each other for what, twenty minutes, not counting all that time you eyed me from the stage. And you've already seen me naked and been inside me.”

“Yeah, I know,” Haechan said. “This is crazy, isn't it. Wanna stop? I can still give you that tour.”

“And face Johnny, who has surely run off to tell the boys? Nah, I'd rather stay here and be your slut.”

Haechan laughed at the joke, which technically wasn't a joke at all. “Oh yeah?” he said, turning his naughty side back on. “And what would a slut like you do to me?”

You tilted back on top of him while he held on to your waist, then you reached behind your back and took off your bra, which until now had stayed on this whole time.

Completely naked on top of your new lover, you placed your hand on Haechan's chest and forcefully pushed him backwards onto the couch. You leaped down with him, and sat down on top of him.

“I can think of lots of things,” you said seductively, while you slowly started to roll your hips over his crotch, pleasuring his hard cock. Haechan grinned longingly at you, and let his hands move up your waist. When he touched your breasts you leaned forward, kissed the idol, and stuck your tongue inside his mouth again.

“Tonight I'm your slut, Hyuck, and you are mine, okay?”

“Okay,” Haechan moaned. “I'm your fucking crazy, dirty slut.”

Check out my smut stories & series: - Most Memorable Sexual Experiences of NCT - Quick Fix Dirty Kpop Imagines - Mixed One-shots

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Did you like this story? Writing just a single story takes me anywhere from 3-24 hours of active work, and I do this as a hobby in my spare time. Please consider supporting my coffee consumption by making a small donation. It would mean more to me than you know!

[neopronouns]

flag id: a flag with 8 stripes, which are blue-black, very dark blue, medium dark silver, silver, light silver, very light silver, very dark blue, and blue-black. end id.

banner id: a 1600x200 teal banner with the words ‘please read my dni before interacting. those on my / dni may still use my terms, so do not recoin them.’ in large white text in the center. the text takes up two lines, split at the slash. end id.

phasiden: an identity that is or was a phase

[pt: phasiden: an identity that is or was a phase. end pt]

for anon! this term is intended as a reclamation of phrases like 'it's just a phase', which are often used to invalidate queer identities. it's meant to acknowledge that sometimes, things are indeed 'a phase', but that doesn't make that person's identity invalid at the time, nor does it make that identity invalid for other people.

the term is 'phas' from 'phase' + 'iden' from 'identity'!

i based the flag on the phases of the moon, since i figured they're a good visual representation of phases! the dark blue stripes literally represent space/the night sky, but metaphorically represent the person who experienced a phasiden, and the other five stripes literally represent the moon, but metaphorically represent the phasiden itself.

for specific phasiden identites, i think a good format is to keep the dark blue stripes and replace the middle four with colors representing the individual identity. -phasiden or -phasid can be used as a suffix!

tags: @radiomogai, @liom-archive, @narcette, @genderstarbucks, @sugar-and-vice-mogai | dni link

[nemoys]

a very long messy review of link click (season 2)

alright so reading through a bunch of (mostly negative) reviews of the season thus far i've come to my own conclusions over how this season felt, and i really feel like addressing them since i personally feel like it deserves recognition (and rightful criticism) within certain aspects. really interested in everyone's takes so lmk whatever you think about all these aspects i'm about to gloss over.

NOTE ; i'm not going to be talking about the art direction or OSTs . i believe those have been nothing short of phenomenal and i feel like we can all universally agree over that

1) tonal shift : from a more emotionally driven s1, coupled with sprinkles of slice of life moments, we turn to a mostly thriller/mystery plot line. personally, i've always seen this coming. the tonal shift really didn't take me by surprise. with the lg stabbing at the end of season 1 it almost seemed inevitable that the more light hearted aspects of the first season weren't going to happen. more importantly, it was very clear that there was always a higher presence to fight. link click was always meant to be a thriller, this was always the plan, and so i suppose logically i assumed the second season would follow that path. i understand how people might've felt disappointed, or 'robbed', but i don't think the shift was all that shocking quite honestly, it was always set up. link click was never light hearted, even at s1.

the more shocking shift has to be the shift from an emotional, to suspenseful change in writing. the emotional writing in link click has always been the best part of the show and that hasn't changed, the emotionally driven plot lines of s2 (chen bin, ltc/ltx) have been written very well. the suspenseful writing also works. replaces the tear jerkers with an unsettling anxiety, and it's executed relatively well. you can clearly tell that the crew's been experimenting quite a lot with this season, and yes, that's usually what season 2 is for.

2) pacing : now i totally get the criticism in this aspect. in my opinion, the weakest part of s2's been the pacing. with overly drawn out fight scenes, and unnecessarily long recaps, i think the issue has to do with the fact that lc just has a LOT to address, and so it makes us feel less inclined to sit through longer scenes that don't directly advance the plot.

obviously i get that the fight scenes show off a lot of the animation budget #tm and they do look great but the fact that we had way too much time dedicated to a five minute long fighting cutscene in the FIRST episode just made me feel impatient.

3) red herring endings: alright this might be an unorthodox opinion but, aren't red herring cliff hangers a norm in general with these kinds of shows lol. idk i've come to expect the total opposite every time so it doesn't really bother me i guess i'm just used to the medium. not really a lc problem it's a story telling problem in general but that's just marketing i don't know what else to say.

it'd be nice if they followed through but some part of me thinks they're pulling a whole boy who cried wolf situation, eventually they'll pull the trigger when we don't really expect it.

4) shipping/ main trio reconciliations : it's a really serious ongoing situation. i kind of get why the main trio/shiguang don't get a chance to talk things over amongst themselves, it just isn't the time. keep in mind everything that's happening rn is happening continuously, there are no gaps within the days or anything, kind of makes sense that they don't really talk about it. they probably will get to once it's all over, which might be well into s3. again, this was always meant to be a thriller more than it was trio focused. also idk about you guys but i think we actually did get a lot of sweet moments within the trio, cxs and lg, even the sibling dynamic with ql and cxs were really lovely this season.

5) the women: okay i REALLY don't understand the problem here. the women are written well. ql is written FANTASTICALLY and all side characters like ltx and that one red eyed lady i'm forgetting the name of were great too. hell even chen bin's wife was great. i think for a donghua/anime where women are usually given dirt in terms of actually strong writing, lc has always been very solid. their lives do not revolve around the men in the show it just happens to be that men are a part of their lives. they have very distinct personalities and aren't treated like weird objects to gaze at (what a bar lol) but yes i do think the women are written quite dimensionally.

6) unanswered questions : when have linear shows ever answered questions (especially mc based) in season 2?? when has season 2 EVER tied loose ends? when it comes to linear television, season 2's purpose almost always build towards a greater evil/climax. there's a reason why season 2 hasn't answered questions we've had, season 2s in most shows rarely ever do. from what i can tell, with a confirmed s3, i've always expected s2 to simply do its job as a second season and further raise stakes and raise even more questions. i do get the frustration, i get the lack of any backstory, but i want to refrain from making any actual comments over that till every episode's aired ahah, however, im not too mad at it. i just think this show's ride is currently still at an increasing accelerated pace (guys i'm sorry i study physics), things will only be explained once we've once hit the climactic point or go downhill right after. time will tell i guess

Conclusion

overall, i think this season was actually pretty solid. s1 set a very unrealistically high bar, as s1 in my opinion is one of the best seasons in television period. but s2 and s1 shouldn't be compared in the same way, their tone is quite different, and needs to be analysed individually instead. i'll make a complete review once the season is over, but honestly i've come to enjoy the season most when i stop expecting too much out of it. i think people had way too many things they've expected from s2, that were bound to simply never happen.

that said, i do hope the crew takes the valid criticism regarding the pacing (and ig the character focus?) into consideration and implements it well into s3. it's worth noting that i believe nothing was meant to be complete with s2 in the first place.

i've really enjoyed this season, and i'm beyond ecstatic to rewatch it all once it's done airing, in order to properly take it all in. it's had its flaws, more than s1 has had (let's be real s1 had little to none). but that's bound to happen to shows when they head down their linear routes. currently sitting at a 7/10

[theturncoattournament]

Announcement: The Best New Main Character Tournament

I'm a huge sucker for perspective flip stories, and so I wanted to create a tournament oriented around finding who would be the most interesting characters to make a perspective flip for.

So the basic premise of this tournament is this: characters who are not the original main character of their story will battle it out to see who would make the most interesting hypothetical main character if the story they're in was re-written from their point of view.

Since this tournament is perspective-flip oriented, the hypothetical being imagined in it isn't meant to be "what if this character completely replaced the original main character, and events unfolded differently because of it?" but rather, "what if events unfolded as they did in the original story, just with this new character's point of view centered?".

SUBMISSIONS ARE CURRENTLY OPEN! As of right now, they will be open until April 30th, but that may be extended/shortened depending on many submissions I get and how quickly I get them. Submissions will be accepted via asks. Please include the following for characters you want to submit:

Their name

What they're from

(Optional) any additional propaganda you want to include

(Optional) if there’s a specific image you want used you can also insert it into the ask (otherwise I’ll just find something on google images)

Some other submission guidelines about what kind of characters will/won't be accepted can also be found on this blog's pinned post. But generally: you're welcome to submit as many characters as you'd like and they can come from any medium (tv, book, video game, etc).

Tagging: @tournament-announcer

[melonteee]

I'm really enjoying the live-action show. It's different, but I think some changes are improvements, some changes are neutral, and some changes are for the worse. Overall, I'd say it's about as good of an adaptation as the East Blue anime is (factoring in the changes the anime made).

Syrup Village is a great example, they cut Jango (though you do see his Bounty poster, so he still exists in canon), but they also made Kaya's illness be the result of Butchie poisoning her and part of Kuro's plan. Luffy drinks the poison soup and that replaces the scene of him unconscious from hypnosis. Zoro has to climb out of a well, and that replaces him climbing up an oil-covered hill and also sets up for Mihawk saying he's a frog in a well. They also change the setting for the battle from a beach to inside the mansion, introducing a horror theme to the story which rachets up the tension a lot more. Sham is also gender-bent and super cute.

And it's not wrong to say the showrunners understand and love the characters and the world. All of the bottles of alcohol are brands in One Piece, the barrel Luffy gets into has the name of the fishmonger from his village, Garp mentions that he's turned down multiple promotions, Nami reads Noland the Liar to Zoro while he's unconscious after his fight with Mihawk, Arlong introduces Fishman discrimination.

I think it's best experienced from the perspective of "it's going to be different, and that's okay". The characters are written a little differently, but not in a bad way. They still feel like the characters at their core, Inaki's Luffy and Taz's Sanji are two stand-outs, they're fantastic.

I understand if it's just not for you, and you did watch one episode, so I can't say you didn't give it a chance at all. I just feel like you and the others are being too harsh on it. It's way better than any other live-action anime adaptation I've ever seen.

I appreciate this anon and I do think the poison change works, but there's certainly a 1 good thing for 9 bad things ratio going on. Because in all fairness, I am going to be extremely critical of a 20 year old series that's making an adaptation with a 17 million dollar budget per episode - especially from Netflix. If I'm being approached by friends who were actually excited for this series and they came out of it disappointed, somehow I don't think I'm gonna have a good time myself. I'm watching One Piece for One Piece, I don't think I should go into an adaptation thinking this is gonna be different in STORY and CHARACTER. I can accept changes for medium, of course, but there are so many absolutely bizarre changes that literally do nothing. You don't go from the manga to the anime and think "Well if I just disconnect these characters from their original selves, I can soak this in fine" because in all honesty, that probably means it's a bad adaptation if you need to work to see what you want to see.

Also the 'frog in the well' thing is exactly my point of this script just slamming you in the face with what it's trying to do, we are not meant to take that literally. The well is the east blue that Zoro lives in, not a literal well lmao. It's a nice cheeky idea to have, but the goofiness of Zoro's character is removed from the scene where he's trying to run up a greased hill like an idiot. Because yes, even THAT scene served a purpose for Zoro's character and how we view him. It's definitely subjective to say the characters are written differently but not in a bad way, because ripping away parts of a character to leave them as this Frankenstein version of themselves is personally not something I want? Why would I WANT all the goofiness and stupidness taken out of Zoro? It might be good for some, but it just feels like a total downgrade and misunderstanding of his character to me. Same goes for Sanji just being this artsy guy who's complaining cause he can't make the dishes he wants, with his over dramatic, angry, violent flare completely gone. Those changes being good or bad are completely up to you, but I am personally just made to see a hollowed out, dumbed down version of them because I liked these characters as I originally met them and that's what made them stand out.

I appreciate the time they put into the sets, I do think the visual world was made well (although it could've used a bit more style), but the little physical details mean absolutely nothing if I can't even FEEL the magic the original gave me. A set does not make a series, 1000 strawhats will not make me see Luffy unless he is written to be Luffy, and that's the problem. I don't want to watch an adaptation that removes the most emotional and impactful moments of my favourite character just to replace it with a fight or to focus on ANOTHER character they've deemed more important. I am going to be critical because these characters mean a lot to me, and I am expecting to feel from an adaptation what I felt from the original with such characters. An adaptation does not mean making things different just for differences sake. I am glad you enjoyed it anon, as many people have, but if I'm watching something that's literally called One Piece and have been told this is an adaptation of One Piece - with the producers even saying they want to put the manga on the screen, mind you - I am going to go in there expecting One Piece, from the characters to the story. I shouldn't have to do the work in my own head and go "Well, they did their best!", especially at a million dollar Netflix production...sigh

[yallemagne]

Someone told me a while back -- when I was just looking for a pdf that has the classist phonetically written accents replaced with plain text instead -- that Re: Dracula wasn't gonna have the accents at all. I was skeptical of the good that'd do because... babe, it's an audio medium, that does not help me with scraping through the emails.

I'm happy there's no erasure of the accent under the excuse of wanting "clarity" like I was led to believe because I can understand it audibly (and even if I couldn't, to have Mr. Swales talk "normal" would just be more classist), but just not when it's scribbles on a page. I suppose that person meant the transcripts, but I can't find those anymore. Anyhow, even without the transcript, it's a thick accent but it's still words, ya know?

Swales said "myself" and I was like "OH THAT is what "masel" is supposed to translate to? Fuck you Bramothy." What Bram wrote aren't words, just a mockery. Especially considering how many accented characters don't have their dialogue phonetically written. Bram specifically chooses to write working-class English accents phonetically to portray them as incomprehensible and uneducated. And it's even more offensive considering how much important information these characters provide, and yet they're just reduced to caricatures by their own creator.

I've said this before-- I think giving these characters voices really breathes life into the story. And especially since Re: Dracula isn't like other Dracula podcasts (rewriting the story to include less characters [and often erasing accents]), all the characters that have dialogue are done the justice that they weren't done in the novel.

[wjbs-mods]

I'm considering rebooting the TF2-Inspired Class Mod (due to issues with class-specific spawning in GZDoom), so it will be more like its inspiration, with some other stuff added for flavour.

Anyway here's a basic overview of how it will work.

Basically, all but one of the ten classes (specifically the Scout, Security (Soldier equivalent), Pyro, Demolitionist, Heavy, Engineer, Scientist (Medic equivalent), Tracker (Sniper equivalent) and Agent (Spy equivalent)) have a set of five different weapons when they start (Primary, Secondary and Melee, as well as a Superweapon that starts with no ammunition, and a unique inventory item that has unlimited use but is on a cooldown, and can be anything from a grenade to a temporary cloaking device). Weapons and ammo-pickups (placed as part of the map or dropped by monsters) are replaced by universal pickups of different sizes;

Clips, Shells, Pistols and Shotguns are replaced by Small Ammo Kits.

Bullet Boxes, Shell Boxes, Cells, Rockets, Chainguns, Chainsaws and Super Shotguns are replaced by Medium Ammo Kits.

Rocket Crates, Rocket Launchers and Plasma Rifles are replaced by Large Ammo Kits.

Cell Packs and BFGs are replaced by Super Ammo Kits, which are the only types to contain Superweapon Ammunition.

The 10th class, the Demonologist, instead has "spells" (functionally weapons but they're not meant to be in-universe) that are unlocked by killing a demon (provided it has an attack that is meant to be natural, so all 3 Former Human varieties, Cyberdemons, Spider Masterminds, Mancubi, Arachnotrons and Wolfenstein Guys don't count, along with the hanging Keens and the Icon of Sin's brain, since the former are already dead when you find them and the latter ends the game upon dying, and Spectres, which just give the same spell as the Pinkie). Each spell deals a different amount of damage to the player as a form of balance. They lack an inventory item, and instead have a passive health-regen.

[winged-golden-wanderer]

--- [ATTACHED: A video, taken from Goldie's wristwatch.

They're walking down a dark, narrow corridor leading through Mt. Moon. Lizzie leads the way, her tail flame providing a dim orange glow to illuminate the rocky path ahead.

As the two trek forward, you listen to the sound of water dripping from stalactites above, and the occasional chattering of Zubat overhead. Every now and then, you see the outline of a Geodude or Clefairy move in the shadows, watching the trainer and their guide curiously from behind large boulders as they pass by.

Eventually, Goldie comes to a sudden halt. Lizzie rumbles and looks back at her trainer, seeming perplexed.

After a brief pause of silence, Goldie speaks up softly. You can sense an edge of urgency in their voice. "...Sense something. Gotta keep moving."

There's a glint of concern in their Charmander's eyes, but Lizzie just gives an understanding nod and continues onward.

Everything seems alright for a moment, and you wonder what Goldie meant when they said they picked up on something nearby. But that confusion is quickly diminished when the audio picks up the sound of footsteps rushing up behind them.

Whatever they belong to jumps in and grabs Goldie in a headlock before they can have a chance to react. They let out a yelp of surprise, and as they try to pry the arms around them off you think you see a black shirt with an "R" symbol printed on its chest.

"Quit strugglin' kid, or I'll knock ya lights out!"

Goldie freezes up quickly, eyes blown wide with terror as they tremble in the attacker's arm. Then, their wristwatch begins to slip just as you hear the growl-y cry of a Pokemon, and you see a second man in a black suit with the same insignia holding Lizzie by the tail.

"This Charmander's got spunk," the Charmander's captor remarks as she thrashes and squirms about, trying to get free. "We'll bag it. Brat's got any others on them?"

"I think so," the second man replies. "Alright kid, here's how this is gonna go; I'm gonna let you go, you're gonna hand over all the Pokemon 'n cash you got on ya, and no one gets hurt. Capiche?"

Goldie quickly nods, and the thug pushes them forward. They quickly un-clip all three of the remaining Pokeballs on their belt, and release the rest of their team onto the cave floor- all besides Gilly.

The thugs eye over the Mankey and Pikachu, before the one holding Lizzie captive glares the young trainer down with scrutiny. "What's in the Lure Ball?"

"M-Magikarp," Goldie squeaks out, voice trembling.

"Seriously? Bah, you can keep that piece o' trash. We'll be takin' the other two, though, if you don't mind."

"And even if you do, nothin' you can do about it!" The lackey behind Goldie snickers, and they tense up as he shoves past them.

"Man, we shoulda just done this from the start instead o' digging around for some damn rocks like the captain told us to."

"Yeah! Honestly, the boss oughta fire him and make one o' us cap-"

"GRRRROOOOOOORRR..."

The two grunts stiffened, slowly drawing their eyes over to Goldie- or more accurately, something behind them. Goldie turns, only to become petrified themself at the sight of a massive Nidoking looming over them. That isn't all, though- you quickly notice it's accompanied by a trainer. A lean-looking young man, with medium-length violet hair and a narrow pair of eyes that match. He wears a white suit over a black turtleneck, with the same R design over his chest as the other two.

"What..." he pauses, his voice low and menacing as his gaze flicks from Goldie to the pair of attackers. "...are you two imbeciles doing?"

"I-I- we- um-" The only holding Lizzie fumbles awkwardly over his words. "H-hey, captain, we were just talkin' about you!"

"So I heard."

Both thugs shrink back, exchanging a nervous glance as the second one swallows a lump in his throat. "We- we was just uh- we were just jokin' around! Honest! N-Nobody could replace you as captain, Donte!"

"That's not what I'm concerned about," this "Donte" character answers calmly. "What I'm wondering is why you two are over here fooling around with some kid like a pair of lowly schoolyard bullies, instead of carrying out the job I assigned you to."

"U-Um- well-" The grunt nods over at the Charmander dangling from his teammate's hand. "We er, found this twerp lurkin' around, lookin' like they were gonna get up in our business here! S-So we acted accordingly, sir. A-and we thought why not nab their Pokemon while we're at it? Could be a good present for the boss!"

The purple-haired man stares them down for a long time, then sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "I explicitly told you two we've come here for fossils. Nothing else. Especially not some newbie trainer's low level, worthless Pokemon."

"W-we- we-" The grunts try to stammer out anything to say, but eventually, hang their heads in shame and defeat. "R-right. Sorry Donte."

"That's captain to you." "S-sorry, captain, sir!" The captain's eyes fix on Goldie once more, and they visibly shrink under his glare. But, they don't linger there for long, before he's back to bossing the two underlings around. "Release the Pokemon and get a move on. Don't let me catch either of you screwing around again. Next time I see you, you've both better have dug up some fossils." "Yes, sir!" The two lackeys straighten up, dropping Lizzie back onto the ground before hurrying off down the corridor and vanishing from view. Lizzie runs up to her trainer, quickly hugging onto their leg and whimpering. Goldie crouches down, giving the Charmander a soothing scratch atop her head. You hear footsteps, and they turn their head up to see the man from before standing beside them as he returns his Nidoking to its ball. He's silent for a moment, and you can tell Goldie is considering just getting back up and walking away. But, before they do, he finally speaks up. "Are you hurt?"

Goldie simply stares at him for a long while. His brow creases a bit in annoyance.

"Answer the question, kid." "N-No," Goldie squeaks out. "Hm." He hums, and looks away. You swear you see his face visibly relax. "Good." He takes a few steps forward, seeming like he's about to take his leave. "For future reference, you ought to stay out of Team Rocket's affairs. I have some... colleagues, who would have gladly endorsed the behavior my subordinates displayed just now. Probably even partake in it themselves." He looks back, and you can't help but notice his eyes seem drawn to their scarf in particular. As if he seems to recognize it. "...You're a new trainer, yes?" "...Yeah." "Hm... I'm assuming you're looking for the next gym. Take a left turn up ahead and keep going straight until you reach the cave exit. That'll get you to Cerulean City." Without another word, he walks away. All of Goldie's Pokemon rush to surround them, Cheese climbing up onto their shoulder and Peanut dangling from their arm. The video ends as they all watch the mysterious man disappear from sight.] ---

[shopcat]

i think pb's most "unfavourable" episode that most people cite as a reason for her being a horrible person is usually the cooler which is interesting to me bc i think a key part of that episode is it's meant to be complicated and flame princess is meant to be there as a deliberate figurehead of this tumultuous kingdom but ultimately being sort of brash 15 year old girl under a lot of pressure as well who doesn't really know what to do. and in contrast pb is a 800 year old ruler and creator of her own kingdom. it is not a filler episode meant to showcase someone's villainry it is a deliberate and thought out narrative to showcase something significant. and it's meant to SHOW how unaware pb is and how far she will go to protect her kingdom against what she perceives as a threat (which is an entirely founded thing as well ... fp's brother wants to literally destroy the candy kingdom + fp herself obviously wouldn't but pb knows she is again a brash teenager doing HER best as well + the implication of the fire giants being used is that they'll create a "new" flame kingdom which COULD very well threaten other kingdoms) and the end of the episode is also meant to show that she's not TRYING to be unreasonable.

like her turning off the cameras she used to monitor people once and for all is significant and the following episode she literally says she's trying to calm down and not be such a control freak. she exhibits this character growth and SHOWCASES it IN SHOW and people who don't understand that are head in the sand style stupid and genuinely i think want to feel sooo smart for being like "everyone knows the REAL villain of adventure time was princess bubblegum" but they just sound like silly. bc she's not that's the entire point. you don't have to like everything she's ever done or said without being like that + you don't have to like her at ALL without taking it out on parts of the show's narrative that you clearly just don't understand. it's okay :)

pb is a deeply complex character who raised herself and was alone for years. she never had anyone TO teach and help her and the one time she did attempt to create a family they literally tried to murder her. she taught herself everything she knows and knew from that that she has to rely on herself and what she can create and has done so for 800 years bc she never had anything else, and she has a deep unwavering LOVE for her kingdom who she regards as her true family. the banana guards literally call her mom. literally all she wants to ever do is protect them and her acknowledging her own need to be in control and overcoming it is LITERALLY a part of her narrative arc that goes hand in hand with her breakup and getting back together with marceline !!! she is incredibly literal and analytical and thinks the answer to everything is science and can be carefully calculated and relied on unlike other people or magic or whatever else that comes up against it and that is PART of her character as a realistic bedding and foundation. time and again this comes up and she is working through and around it and OTHER PEOPLE are also seeing her side of things and what she perceives and they're coming to a healthy medium that is !!! the point !!!

i think people willingly bending over backwards to acknowledge the complexity of say simon's story but REFUSING to even say the words "maybe pb is just a complex character but she's not a villain OR evil" without frothing at the mouth is fucking weird. i think you just literally hate women sorry like. i've seen people literally acuse her of being a replacement/robot in the earlier seasons because she was so sweet like 😭 that's insane. she is a deeply nice sweet person she is literally made of candy... there's a point to that too. her being kind of silly at times either doesn't contradict her intelligence or aptitude to rule in such an unbridgeable way that it must therefore be "manipulation" or just someone entirely different PLEASE...

also ppl who say she's creepy/cold/robotic/scary or some variation of that bc of the way she speaks and reacts to things in episodes is insane and ultimately a cruel way of thinking even if you didn't think she was like autistically coded deliberately or not. someone exhibiting certain traits and acting in a certain way should never be "proof" of their secretly horrible nature if the proof you're using is steeped in ableist sentiment. i think her unwavering faith in science is really cool and i think a character being able to frustrate you a little is also cool and i still love her deeply. adventure time is cool bc the characters do feel and act like real people and us reacting to that is natural + the entire foundation of what it is to experience a story. :)

[nimblermortal]

I just.

Okay, I am going to rant a bit, and this is not going to be kind to pagans. Not deliberately unkind, I just have issues with the concept of an eternal runic tradition to be rediscovered.

I had the good fortune recently to be on the receiving end of an impromptu belly dancing lesson. Some of the first words out of the teacher's mouth were, "This is at least two generations removed from source culture," meaning that it has inherently lost meaning and been reinterpreted.

There is no continuous source culture for Norse paganism. We're about fifty generations removed from source culture.

But, I say to myself, let us be realistic here. You believe in math as something that can be discovered independently. You believe in capoeira as something that can be discovered independently. Why not runic magic?

Because runes are, inherently, scratches on rock. Or marks on paper, whatever. They have the meaning we assign to them. There isn't any electricity running in them, there is no special meaning to them. They're neat. They're inherently interchangeable with any other mark, or replaceable, especially in a society that usually writes on paper rather than carving in stone.

(Side note, the way that the medium a society writes in shapes the shape of the letters is very cool.)

It's like the thing about water having memory. Very simple experiment: write a word on paper, attach it to a container of water, freeze it, and look at the crystals. Supposedly if you write a kind word like 'kiss' or 'light' the crystals have a much more even pattern than if you write a mean word like 'Satan' or 'maim'.

Does water have a language? Of course not, water is universal, water is for everyone, water is what it is wherever it is.

So what happens if you write 'hell' on a piece of paper attached to a container of water? Obviously it has bad connotations and the water freezes in an amorphous 'bad' shape, right?

Except that 'hell' means 'bright' in German. So does German water freeze differently than English water? Obviously not.

So it does not matter what the runic shapes are. We do not know what they meant to the source culture, four dozen generations later. If you want to assign meaning to it, and use this to in some way have your personal intentions interact with the intentions of the universe, that's fine, that's a way that humans interact with the universe.

But there is no eternal truth of the runes, they are just shapes. If we did not have any record of Futhark, would we recreate those shapes? Sure! Probably! They're easy to carve in stiff mediums! Would those shapes inherently make sounds, or have associations with gifts or fire or Mercury's position in the sky? Definitely not! I could assign ehwaz to mean the first partial derivative, that is 100% something I would have done when I was studying calculus. It's a useful simple shape. It does not contain inherent meaning.

Math, depending on your choice of axioms, does have an inherent, discoverable quality to it. There is a concept of a fundamental unit, a 1, that I cannot conceive a reasoning species doing without. (If you can, writers, it would make a fantastic alien species.) Once you have 1, 1+1 is not far behind, and suddenly you have positive integers. Things escalate from there.

Capoeira, given the existence of humans and monkeys, does have an inherent, discoverable quality to it. This is a farther leap; capoeira has a lot of weird, non-intuitive motions to it. But a primate is going to learn to run and leap and even turn backwards over itself. This sort of play is going to evolve into some form of gymnastics, and in imitation of itself and other primates, both martial arts and dance are inevitable. It's surprising to me that there aren't more forms that combine the two. I'm not saying capoeira is inevitable, but something akin to it is.

Runes do not have an inherent, discoverable quality. They are scratches. They are symbols that can mean anything. The things they represent may have inherent, discoverable qualities. The things they are meant to do may have inherent, discoverable qualities. There is not anything inherently linking the concept of a certain set of scratches and a certain set of ideas.

I should write my stepsister a letter in futhark, I haven't done that in ages.

[aliendragondreaming]

NEXT GEN OC STUFF

Cause I have had these guys rattling around in my skull for longer and they're are more properly fleshed out now

Junebug

-she's like super crafty almost all her clothes have some sort of handmade additions to them (only exception is her loungewear)

-will do anything for money

-doesn't really mind being compared to Mayday, she thinks it's a complement

-does basically all the album art for their band (still unsure if I like the name Triple Trouble or not)

-her favorite medium is acrylic but she usually opts for her hands rather than a brush

-plays keytar

-Mayday was not happy when Junebug had more interest in piano than guitar (she eventually came around once Junebug started playing keytar)

-hates using her mind powers as they give her a headache (this is mostly because she's out of practice cause SOMEONE didn't listen to her mom)

-can and will cheat at anything, games, slot machines, cards you name it

-"he asked for no pickles"

Beat

-technically speaking he's a clone of Zuke with some scrambled DNA so he wouldn't look exactly like Zuke and had robotic parts placed in areas that bone failed to grow in

-Because of the fact he's technically a clone he struggles a lot with his identity, afraid all people are going to see him as just Zuke's replacement

-prone to panic attacks especially if he's overstimulated

-shark special interest <3

-plays drums

-cannot sing to save his life, so instead Junebug usually remixes his vocals to sound super distorted for background noises

-struggles with social situations

-still not really sure if he wants to be a rockstar

-cannot keep calm in aquariums (he's too excited)

-does not like dolphins ("way too smart than any animal has any right to be")

-wants a tongue piercing (his dads keep telling him no)

-inherited Zuke and West's shadow magic, his shadow animal is a shark (of course)

-he mostly uses it as a scare tactic as he has no idea how to fight with it

Crystal

-desperately tries to be the voice of reason between June's impulsiveness and Beat's anxiety

-moved from the countryside where her mom lives to live with her uncle in Vinyl City as she wanted to be a musician

-finds her uncle weird/pos

-Bunkbed Junction super fan (they're her biggest inspiration)

-smokes sometimes

-plays bass

-dropped out of highschool and was forced to do homeschool by her mom (so she still got that highschool diploma babey)

-because of that she doesn't really know how to act around people her age

-girlie is TIRED

-knows proper self defense and will use it against you (never leaves home without her brass knuckles)

-has telekinesis but doesn't use it very often

-has no idea who her dad is (I will not be telling you :3)

-not up to date with the trends or slang (Beat and Junebug legit had to explain what Bozo meant to her)

-trying to find a job

[mildlysardonicthoughtdump]

You know what I miss....

I really miss conversations consisting of equal parts pop culture quotes/references & sardonic mockery.

When I say 'pop culture quotes' I'm not referring to the almost universal but, for the most part, short lived quotes from the likes of The Fast Show, Harry Enfield, Peter Kay, Catherine Tate & whatever Sacha Baron Cohen's latest 'just short enough of offensive to broadcast' character of the month was... whose shows seemed to be simply 'catchphrase generators' meant to give the general public something to shout at each other ad infinitum for a few weeks until they were, inevitably, replaced by the next 'mildly-humorous-at-the time-but-quickly-becoming-annoying' one, two (or if the writers put the coke down long enough...) three word phrase to bounce around the workplace & keep the 'artist' in question relevant enough to beg another season.

No!

I'm talking about the quotes & references from tv shows, books & movies that have become so beloved & iconic, no matter how small the fandom may be, that in certain cases a single word can communicate your love of a particular property to any other fan that happens to be in the vicinity. Say "Shiny" in a packed room with the right inflection & watch the heads of every Browncoat there swivel in your direction. Say "Geronimo" or "Allons y" & you've just let every Whovian in attendance have a brief glimpse into your preference of Doctor.

What I'm talking about are book series from the likes of Douglas Adams & Terry Pratchett. Tv shows such as Scrubs, Firefly, Doctor Who, Animaniacs, Star Trek, Red Dwarf, Freakazoid & Tiny Toon Adventures. Renowned films ranging across genres from The Lost Boys & The Crow to Blazing Saddles & Ghostbusters. The Back to the Future Trilogy, Star Wars, Flash Gordon, Con Air, Rocky Horror, Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, Every Monty Python movie... all the way to the more cult end of the spectrum such as Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse to barely known flicks like Airheads & Ski School.

Despite the different mediums & genres, the main thing that all of these have in common (as well as many others not mentioned) is that they're all so damn quotable. Incidentally, another commonality is that the majority were created & aired in the 1970's, 80's & 90's. Whether it was due to my age at the time I initially watched them or because the writing & performances were just better back then I don't know... but, with the possible exception of Game of Thrones & certain movies from the MCU,... there just don't seem to be as many movie/tv lines that embed themselves in the mind these days. (As I type this there's actually a Writer's strike going on... unlike the previous one back in the 90's(?)... I wonder if these guys actually deserve the raise tbh)

Take something with a fairly wide fanbase like, say, Red Dwarf. Any casual watcher who enjoyed it at the time will happily call you a Smeg Head if you happen to mention the show in passing... those of us whose fandom is a little more 'rabid' could tell you what Kryten says the apple is when Lister is teaching him to lie (in the episode 'Camille')... *answer at the end of the post for anyone interested... not that anyone but me will ever read this drivel.

The point is that even the most casual of fans can throw out quotes to the above at the drop of a hat...

To get back to my original point (it had to happen eventually)... the conversations I miss having were with friends who were far more than casual fans. These were friends with whom I could throw out an obscure line from an episode of Freakazoid & they'd instantly come back with the response... completely screen accurate... with the perfect timing & inflections. Someone could be getting increasingly frustrated about a printer spitting out endless blank sheets of paper & another friend would comment that "Mr Flibble's very cross"... instantly, the mood of the entire room would lift as we all giggled our collective tits off & the quotes bounced back & forth like tennis balls. I miss standing at the lift with my old next door neighbour (an absolute authority on all things WB animation) & waiting until one of us inevitably cracked & had to say "Elelator go down the hole" which would be instinctively followed by the other uttering "I push the button... my turn, not your turn, my turn... I push the button"!

There's a certain type of person that loves their fandoms (obsesses?) enough that these lines so easily drip into their subconscious & become an integral part of their lexicon, especially when surrounded by the like minded.

I used to spend a lot of time with these people. It was comfortable. Conversation was light & easy because we 'belonged'. Unfortunately, life happens... people drift, circumstances change, new situations create changes in social circles... we end up with different groups &, often, struggle to find that 'belonging' again. Not because these new groups aren't nice, kind, sociable & welcoming people... but simply because they're not 'our' people. We can always find common ground if we try hard enough but it's often not enough common ground to sustain any meaningful communication & certainly not the 'light, easy & comfortable' communication that makes you feel that you are part of the 'tribe'... warm, welcomed & wanted... we, inevitably, end up on the outskirts of these groups, unable to get past much more than a greeting & a minute or 2 of small talk before moving on. We find ourselves, over time, with fewer & fewer invitations to social gatherings &, possibly worse, we find ourselves not wanting to go anyway.

These days we have the wonderful dumpster fire that is the internet. We can find all of our fandoms & shared interests with a tap. We find 'our people' are everywhere... in all the remote corners of the world. The friends we've drifted from are right there on social media. But.... it's just not the same as being there, in the room, making casual, off-the-cuff, random references to a common love, in the complete & total knowledge that the person next to you just 'gets it'... & you... & I miss that!

The sardonic mockery that made up the remainder of these conversations is another story entirely... maybe one day.

*the apple in question was described as "The Bolivian Navy on maneuvers in the South Pacific"

[alastgoodnight]

"Remember to always say goodnight to the ones who love you, even if you don't think you need to. Everyone deserves a goodnight."

Indie RP blog for Naomi Joy Sato, reclusive podcaster and caretaker of a strange and lonely library. A study in grief, found family, telling stories and learning to be loved again, through the lens of 90's/2000's children's shows. Mun is over 21, but blog is SFW. Highly selective. No minors, please. Penned by Esme. Takes place during the summer of 2023. Scary things may happen, but this is not a horror blog.

Quick Note: Posts tagged with 'Chapter #: Chapter Title' (replace appropriately) are story posts. They're meant to be treated as the 'source material' of this blog, and inform her progress and behavior in threads. They are not opens. I will not respond to any interactions with them.

Trigger warnings: Surrealist imagery, death of family/a child (in backstory), survivor's guilt, metaphorical body horror (mild), revisiting the same nightmare over and over and over again.

The Story So Far: Naom has accepted that she wants to stay in the Library. There is still work to be done, though, on both the building and herself, before that can be made official. The first thing to do is deliver some bouquets.

Current Library Residents:

Naomi Sato, the only human resident. She has agoraphobia, and needs an umbrella in order to feel comfortable going outside during the day.

Teddy, her goldfish stuffed animal. Not alive.

About 14 dust bunnies, including Buster and Wexel; Eenie, Meenie, Minie and Moe; and 'the class', a group of 8 dust bunnies always seen together.

Willa the Wallaphant, a felt elephant that resides in a series of tapestries decorating the library building.

Ragamonster/Rags: A quadrupedal puppet made of blue, green and yellow scraps and yarn, Ragamonster is the monster under Naomi's bed. Very large but easily frightened, Rags is as sweet as he is skittish, and prefers to be close to Naomi or under a small roof.

Arlo: The Sandman of Slumber Hill, Arlo is a ram puppet/costume who wears dark, glittering robes and bells on his horns. He acts as a voice of reason and comfort, and only appears at night, right before bedtime. He is always accompanied by his flock of sheep, which you can count to fall asleep.

The Flock: Arlo's sheepy, so sleepy. They hop fences.

Current Library Anomalies:

Blue Dreams: A series of dreams in which Naomi finds herself in an enclosed space filled with matte blue something. After the incident with the Blue Mirror, the dreams have come to a halt, due to Naomi drawing a hard boundary with the Library.

Three Goldfish: A new addition to the Blue Dream phenomenon, these three goldfish come in varying sizes and are noted for their solid colors of Orange, Yellow and White. They represent Naomi's memories of her father, mother, and sister respectively.

Blue Umbrella: An umbrella of clear blue vinyl, decorated with big, matte white raindrops and clouds. It appears to have no magical qualities, but is an effective aide in helping Naomi go outside without experiencing vertigo, due to its visual distortion of the sky.

Newspaper: A changing, self-updating newspaper consisting mostly of blocks of ink. Currently legible are the following passages: "HOROSCOPE: YOU SHOULD PICK A BOUQUET FOR THEM", a panel that says "Weather prediction: Surely it will rain eventually?", and an announcement for "FIREFLY SHOW TONIGHT, FOLLOWED BY FIRST SHEEP COUNTING OF SEASON". It is apparent that whatever entity the library is, this is its best medium for communicating through words.

Closet Mirror: A full-length mirror at the end of the second floor's walk-in closet. It depicts a strange metal lump floating in front of Naomi's chest that leaks a matte blue liquid. A particularly intense sequence of blue dreams has led Naomi to realize this is a manifestation of her (emotional) heart, and its "blue love" will continue to flood and stain everything in her life until she understands what it's trying to tell her. Currently flipped to face the wall.

Mirror Door: The mirror can transform into a door, which leads Naomi into a currently undefined space. Within it, the Library can show her memories and dreams with more interaction and clarity.

Roadside Ditch: A ditch across from the library and the road leading to it. Naomi and Arlo have picked all the flowers from it.

The Red Shape: Naomi sometimes sees a red shape far down the road, obscured by distance and the wavering of hot air. Its most recent appearance caused her to fall into the ditch, for fear of it striking Ragamonster. She now believes this to be a figment of her own memory, rather than part of Lullaby Lane.

Letterbox: A magic letterbox which can teleport any written message put through its slot to its intended recipient. It sits on the desk upstairs. (If you want to send or get asks, this is a great medium for them!)

Blue Love Poem: A poem Naomi has been struggling to write. She is starting to understand what Blue Love means.

The Story: Not an anomaly. A story Naomi tells herself but has never finished. She can very easily get stuck saying one or two sentences over and over. This followed her to the Library.

Table of Contents:

Preproduction (Prologue) - (chrono)

Pilot Episode (Chapter 1) - (chrono)

Casting Call (Chapter 2) - (chrono)

Set Design (Chapter 3) - (chrono)

Prop Development (Chapter 4) - (chrono)

Costume Fittings (Chapter 5) - (chrono)

Table Readings (Chapter 6) - (chrono)

Script Revisions (Chapter 7)

Naomi's Dream Log - (chrono)

[incarnateirony]

So like. When I said there was a fucking moron delusional stalker that was too fucking stupid and ignorant to even start to comprehend the level of Work performed to remove her from blighting my existence over the next ~year or so, maybe people are starting to grok.

lmao what did she think the magi are

probably thought it was some equally bullshit title like the octopus pagan or the cat medium idk

like no bitch i meant it, she threw out literally everything she wanted literally over fucking twitter roleplay under the manic screaming crying excuse of lemons, and still pretends she has around lmaooooooo and her cuck of a husband enables it while she has them both dreaming of me and my shadows they project their wishes at, mein gott.

I figured it out. I'm not her body pillow. I'm her everything. He's her body pillow serving as a fill in. A body to groom and train into playing her theater games to act as a stand in for what she fucked up on.

like, the second you realize that, everything about their entanglement here makes sense (beyond how blatant it makes her reasons for mass stalking me for years to get my attention), and they're both reliant on their lies and stuck with pretending to care while he leads her down the path of ripping out her hair and spewing deranged anime nonsense. They both know neither of them can survive on their own strength, so they're stuck together. A mutually socially abusive relationship of liars from the core.

And that's all she'll have now, and broken dreams, delusions, and lost gods. For the rest of her life. Because she's not strong enough to face it and fix it. And she sure isn't the kind of person that could drag in a quick replacement with how her physical and mental health have both not just declined but frankly expired in the last few years. She will run and run until one day, she chooses to run off the planet from herself.

Even after my massive blog dump. Impressive. Probably because I spent a month screaming at this spiritual vampire that I Do Not Consent To This Entanglement.