#things I randomly get compelled to write

[tanoraqui]

Dungeon Meshi Liveblog: Let's Eat!

(That is, let's live, want, connect... oh, you know what I mean by now)

I like how Yaad and the other living villagers can casually talk with the ghosts, because for all intents and purposes they were also ghosts... In fact, those who stayed and spent centuries going through the patterns of life even though all true meaning had been lost long ago were MORE "ghosts" than those who lost their corporeal forms because they wanted to escape so badly that they went wandering... That's so fuckin' good. I wanna eat this writing.

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Kabru just randomly walking out of the bushes the second Laios starts considering politics...love him. He was summoned. His PR spidey senses were going off.

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look at my boy, establishing his own authority.

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Lol this was me when we moved house last month, and my job was to just stand in the new living room and tell people where to put which box or piece of furniture. It's an important job in a task with a lot of people!

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FUCK YEAH, THAT'S MY MAN! HE LOOKS GREAT!

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fucking love the trope of "one savvy friend in the crowd who deliberately gets a supportive chant going." Of course it's Kabru.

Though it's important to note that the first thing someone called was, "The demon-eater's here!", and there was muttering while no one was entirely sure if that was a good thing or not... Kabru didn't start the rumble of the crowd; the rumble of the crowd is unavoidable, and you have to be aware of that. Laios has always been aware of that, he's just never known what to do about it, and so tried to avoid it. But he's not avoiding it anymore - so Kabru started the hype of the crowd.

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They're both right! In order to eat, you need to kill! A memento of a meal IS a spoil of war!

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They're unhappy bros... /laughing

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Shown: man desperately reassuring himself, and psyching himself up to eat this stupid dragon meat

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DADCHUCK. Istg my father has said the same thing to me.

p.s. oh thank god he's fully dressed again. it was indecent.

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Marcille is so resigned to this, and so...determined to see it as her own choice. "We all agreed", "I've got to go" - and I'm sure she does see it as her own choice, in a way, because this is how the world has always worked and she knows that. She knew that going in. Those who do ancient magic are arrested by the Elves of the West, that's just the "natural" consequence. She might've gotten away with it if she'd gone undiscovered, or if she'd stayed in the dungeon forever, but she didn't - she chose to pursue her craft, to save Falin, and to do everything after that, too, and so she implicitly chose the consequence with it. If it's unfair, well, thinking that changes nothing, so it's better not to think it.

Until Laios is like, "Actually, I might have political power now? And I'm SO goddamn tired of myself and people I love being punished just for being different, and interested in unconventional things. Let's try something."

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WELL-FUCKING-PLAYED! GET THEIR ASSES, LAIOS! It's especially great because I'm pretty sure he knows the answers to all of this by now? Power move!

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Is she sitting there completely nude except for jewelry and a short robe. Icons only, honestly. Though "we have the luxury of time" feels like so much of a threat from an elf.

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Hey, you did objectively defeat him! Okay arguably the Lion did but Laios did it first, he just also then talked to him, and got grabbed by friendly vine-tentacles. You didn't kill him, but that's not what Delgal asked for anyway!

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thinking about that post that observed that Thistle's driving madness was specifically getting Delgal home for dinner, to eat all together as a family again, and he wakes up to the sound of the people of the Golden Kingdom eagerly inviting the (new) king to eat, and him responding...crying... What is lost is lost, but life will go on.

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The moment when a character decides to lie to another character for their own good is always so compelling. The little moral quandary microcosm.

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So Yaad did know something of what passed between Delgal and Thistle, that drove Thistle down the path to dark magic. He know what it was his grandfather blamed himself for.

This is SUCH A GOOD AND QUIET-SAD DEATH SCENE, but as a consummate fan of 'actually, living is much much harder than dying, and much more interesting too', I do like to think Thistle lives and has to...figure out what to do with his life. And that 'what to do with his life' ends up including ancient magic mad science with Marcille.

...But honestly, even though that'd be fun for me, it seems almost cruel to Thistle. He's been alive for so long. Those he loved most are gone. He held the demon back from the surface, trapped in those books, for so long, even if it was in no way whatsoever with the good of the world in mind. If anyone deserves this peaceful death in (what he thinks are) his brother's forgiving arms, it's him.

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Unfortunately, my love, as has been ceaselessly proven in this story: that's life.

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Marcille has caught onto one of the major themes! However, this story still isn't in favor of afternoon special Moral of the Story - not of letting the characters wrap things up with a bow, at least. You just go on living and wanting and learning about and connecting with and killing new things, forever! That's how it goes! You never know everything and you're always a little bit starving!

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I really love this grumpy old man, and I want him to stick around and be one of Laios's advisors. He's an old gnome, he'll die as soon as an average tallman would anyway.

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This is a) very touching coming from Mithrun, who is only just regaining his own will to live, and b) almost tautalogical in this story EXCEPT that it is also clear that merely "wanting" doesn't mean you get to continue to live, it only means that you're alive in this moment - you also need to want to live MORE than whatever's trying to kill you wants to live.

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GREAT VISUALS!

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And then it's so small, so small that she could leave it behind entirely but Falin is still so kind that she picks it up anyway! Falin who looks at everyone and everything - ghosts and brothers and mad mages and dead dragons, the latter of whom were both violently oppressing her soul - and thinkgs "I gotta help." She's so good!

I'm really going to need to write a like 2k post-canon character study about how Falin has part of the spirit of a dragon in her chest which unfurls while she travels abroad and curls up again and hides when she's home with Marcille and especially with Laios, and how it's a metaphor for her own independence but also literally there is the spirit of a dragon. At the end of it she figures out how to nurture and commune with the dragon enough to have her own flight-capable wings.

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THIS IS SO FUCKING COOL-LOOKING. AUTOPHAGIC SELF-CREATION FOR THE FUCKING WIN!!

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YYEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

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fuck it, have a collage, because this bitch-ass website is about to cut off my photos-per-post. It can't HANDLE the sheet joy of Falin resurrection reunion hugs!!

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so many people love her, or at least are really emotionally invested in this now!! /sobs

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Lmaoooo

Laios: wracked with food poisoning because he ate raw walking mushroom Falin: great distress! Marcille: trying very hard to help, also thinking sooo hard that He Is An Idiot. [btw I love how it looks like she takes up holding her hair back with a band] Kabru: having his weekly moment, as he has for the past many years and will continue to have until he dies, of wondering if he shouldn't really have just killed this guy rather than let him become king

Kabru definitely wrote this whole ending narration btw. This is his press release from like 40 years in the future. And those kids! An orc kid and a kobold kid, and zooming out to show kids of other races, all playing together and going to lunch together!!

And then they all lived, and hungered and ate and killed and wanted and sought understanding and connected with one another and were part of the great circle of life, as happily ever after as one can get.

This story truly was delicious...in dungeon!

[lakesbian]

i have had like 10 friends rec worm to me but nobody’s given me a good like, gist of its vibe and what its abt because ‘its best blind’, could u please give a like brief summary and vibe check of it 😭 it’s so long i dont wanna try and invest that much time without knowing much abt it

so, worm is a 1.7 million word long webserial written in 2010. 1.7 million words seems like a lot, but it was also written over a relatively short period of time, which means the writing style is very easy to parse--the ideas aren't without complexity, but the language itself isn't intimidatingly dense. you can get through it at a very decent pace. i agree with your friends that there are vast portions of worm that hit best when you're unspoiled, but the thing is that worm is long enough that giving you the basic plot pitch is in no way spoilers for any of the things that i wouldn't want to see spoiled for someone. i'm actually kind of baffled they're not telling you Any Thing, because it is in my estimation one of the best books i've ever read, but it also Needs a briefing before you get into it for like five different reasons. which i will now provide. i swear to god this is brief by my standards it's just that i am very thorough

worm is a story about superheroes and supervillains, set in a world where superpowers are traumagenic--rather than appearing randomly or innately, some people gain powers after a traumatizing event happens to them. the protagonist is taylor hebert, a 15yo girl who has the power to control insects and desperately wants to be a superhero. and then accidentally finds herself scouted by a team of teenage villains instead. who's to say how she's going to react to all that!

one of the most compelling things about worm is that the superpowers in it serve as visceral, hyper-literal metaphors for the trauma and traumatized coping mechanisms of the characters with those powers. each power is incredibly specific and thematically relevant to the person who has it, and it's incredibly interesting and evocative. it feels so natural and well-done that it comes off like how superpowers are just meant to be written.

the fact that superpowers stem from trauma also means that worm is fundamentally a narrative about trauma. specifically, about traumatized teenagers and the relationships they form as they cling together while struggling through growing up traumatized & mutually coping with an increasingly intriguing, intense, and far-reaching escalating plot. worm's depictions of trauma + mental illness--including unpalatable trauma responses, including traumatized characters who are allowed to be complicated and nuanced and messy while still receiving narrative respect--are deeply real-feeling and impactful, and they're placed in the context of a well-spun + engaging story.

i really do have to stress how excellent the character writing is. worm is fully deserving of being as long as it is. over the course of 1.7 million words of character development, the average reader's reaction to the main characters goes from "sorta interesting" to "okay, i want to see where this goes" to "augh...really likable" to "i am now on hands and knees crying and these characters are going to stick around in my brain forever." wildbow has incredible talent for efficiently conveying complicated, real-feeling, and viscerally evocative characterization. many of the interlude chapters (chapters written from the perspective of different characters other than taylor) are so interesting, fleshed-out, and emotionally affecting that they make you wish you could read an entire novel about just the side character being featured. with that level of characterization for just the side cast, it's not surprising that taylor (& co) are genuinely just downright iconic. and i do not say that lightly--taylor is truly one of the best-written protagonists i've seen in anything. ever.

the other main pitch-point for worm is that it's a fascinating deconstruction/reconstruction/examination of the conceits of the superhero genre. it answers the question of--what would the world have to be like, for people with superpowers to act the way they do in classic cape media? and it does this well enough that it's interesting even if you have only a passing familiarity with cape media. i am not a big superhero media fan, but worm addresses virtually every aspect of cape media that was under the sun around 2010 in a way that's so interesting i still find it incredibly engaging. the approach it takes makes the narrative very accessible even to people who aren't usually cape media fans.

and speaking of the narrative: the end of the story is coherent and satisfying and deeply thematically resonant*. the way worm follows through on all of its main mysteries & plot threads is excellent. you don't have to worry about getting thru 1.7 million words and being dissatisfied by the author shitting the bed at the end, or anything like that. he does an amazing job of weaving together plot events in a way that makes each successive one feel rationally, thematically, and emotionally connected to what came before. there's really only one part where i feel the story stumbles a bit, but i think it was the best option he had for the narrative, and it's by no means a dealbreaker. it's in fact really impressive how cohesive and satisfying worm is for such a long webserial released over such a brief period of time.

*this is subjective ive seen some people who didnt love it but ive never seen anyone who downright Hated it who didnt also demonstrate egregious misunderstanding of literally everything worm is about. so thats a good sign

as for the downsides of worm/things that might put you off:

there is a very long list of trigger warnings for it. if you have any trigger warnings you want you should ask your friends to let you know about the relevant parts, because the fact that it's About Trauma (& about typical cape media circumstances presented very seriously) means that traumatic and violent things & their realistic aftermath are constantly happening and/or being discussed. i would not classify worm as needlessly dark or spiteful to the audience by any means, but it is intense and covers a lot of heavy topics. i do assume if your friends are all recommending it to you, they think none of the material would be too much for you, though!

worm was written in 2010 by a white cishet guy from canada. it's typical levels of 2010-era bigoted, it has a deeply lesbophobic stereotype character, it has some atrociously racist stereotype characters, the author really hates addicts, It's Got Blind Spots. i think worm is generally fully worth reading despite these, but very fair warning that it can get bad. i think what exacerbates this is that worm is generally extremely nuanced & sympathetic regarding ideas such as "crime is a result of systematic circumstance vs people just being inherently evil" and "mentally ill people who are traumatized in unpalatable ways are still deserving of fundamental respect as human beings" and so on and so forth, so it's extra noticeable and insufferable when you get to a topic the author has unexamined biases on and all that nuance drops out. the worst part is that a lot of this is most concentrated in the early arcs, so you have to get through them without being super attached to any of the characters yet. it is worth it though.

worm like. Does have a central straight relationship in it. and it's a very well written straight relationship for the most part and i like it quite a lot. but worm also passes the bechdel test with such flying colors that it enters 'unintentionally homoerotic' territory. which means a lot of people were shipping the main character ms taylor hebert with her female friends while the story was being released. which caused the author to get so mad he 1. posted a word of god to a forum loudly insisting that all of the girls are straight and 2. inserted a few deeply awkward and obvious and out of character scenes where he finds an excuse for the girls to more or less turn to the camera and go "i'm not gay, btw. this is platonic." This is fucking insufferable, and will piss you off immensely, but then you will get to any of the number of deeply emotionally affecting scenes between them, and at that point you will be too busy sniffling piteously and perhaps crytyping an analysis post on tumblr to be mad about all that other shit. also they're only a couple tiny portions out of an entire overall fantastic novel

overall: if those points don't sound like dealbreakers (i hope they aren't they're really massively outstripped by the amount of devastatingly good moments in worm, worm still has a thriving fandom over a decade later for a reason), you should absolutely give it a shot and see what you think. my final note is that you have to read up until the end of arc 8 to really see where what makes worm Worm kicks in, so aim for at least there to see how you feel about it if you're just thinking about dipping your toes in vs fully committing. i hope that was helpful and not too long :)

oh and don't go in the comments section on wordpress if you don't want spoilers. or anywhere else in the fandom at all. you will be spoiled. quite possibly for things you could not even have imagined were topics to be spoiled on.

[rosyheretic]

little bird (part 2) (steve rogers x fem!reader)

part 1

summary: steve rogers has been acting strangely around you for months, and now you know why: he found out about your crush on him and decided to tease you until you couldn't take it, as penance for your insubordination in the field. how much of steve's provocation can you take? and does he enjoy working you up? (part 2: oh yeah he does)

warnings: smut (18+), fingering, spanking, unprotected sex (bad), praise kink, size kink? ish? it's steve c'mon, witch reader, dirty talk, aftercare (fluff?)

notes: thank you guys for reading the first part! hopefully the grand finale lives up to your expectations. i plan to keep writing and hopefully improve, so let me know if you have any feedback or requests! up next on the queue is a sex pollen fic (with a twist!) because i'm a simple woman.

steve grinned at you and wrapped his arms around your waist, hoisting you up to perch you on the counter.

his big hands fell on your knees and pushed them apart so that he could stand between your legs. his dominant hand then slipped under your chin, tilting your head so he could kiss you.

steve rogers was a passionate kisser. he was hungry, taking possession of your mouth and exploring you with his tongue. he found the back of your neck and stroked it as he pulled back to speak.

"if i didn't know any better, i'd say you like smoochin' me," steve teased, drinking in your kiss-swollen lips and dazed eyes.

"oh, quit gloating and get to work," you fired back. a splash of magic escaped you and pink wisps guided his fingers toward your heat.

"since when do i take orders from you, dove?" steve pulled his hand free of your power and tutted. "the whole point of this exercise is to teach you to respect my authority."

"is that so, captain?" you sang back. "i thought the point was to rail me."

"i'm a talented guy," steve said, planting a kiss on your cheek so his lips were right by your ear. "i can do two things at once."

"then i suggest you get on it, rogers, because right now i don't see a compelling reason to change my behavior."

steve chuckled and captured your lips in another intense kiss. when you parted your lips to let him in, he used the momentary distraction to pick you up and haul you over his shoulder. your dress flipped up, revealing your upper thighs and your ruined panties.

"wha—STEVE! put me down!" you screamed, pounding your fists on his back. with one quick slap to your thinly clothed ass, he shut you up.

"you want a reason?" he said, slapping your ass twice more. "i'll give you 20."

he carried you to the couch, hitting each side of your bottom one more time before he sat down. he bent you over his knee, holding you down with his free hand splayed across your back.

"i'll just slip these off so i can see you, babygirl," he cooed as he dragged your panties down your legs. when he saw the large wet spot on your underwear, he laughed in triumph. "look at that. nice and wet for your captain, hm?"

steve gave you no warning before he resumed his punishment, landing slaps on every inch of your backside quickly and randomly. after what felt like hours of this punishment, you were delirious and helpless in his arms. or so you both thought.

he turned you over on his lap, hiking your dress up your legs again for access. when he forced your legs apart and moved his hand toward your mound, you braced for relief. instead you watched in horror as he drew back his hand, winding up for a slap right to your pussy. you flinched hard and shut your eyes.

when the spank never came, you opened your eyes to find steve's hand hovering in midair, its path interrupted by the electric fog of your magic.

"still resisting me, little bird?" steve raised an eyebrow at you, unfazed. then he started to push against the energy barrier. your involuntary magical defenses disintegrated under the pressure of his hand. he wore a cocky grin as your power fell away, leaving you defenseless.

you wanted to keep up the bratty act because the dynamic was fun for both of you. but in failing to protect yourself from his punishing hand, you had shown your cards. he knew how much you needed this, how powerless you were against the craving for your superior.

"betrayed by your subconscious," steve found humor in the situation even while you trembled beneath him. mercifully, he gave up on spanking you in favor of teasing your folds. you mewled at the first swipe of his fingers through your heat. "don't worry, i know you could still kick my super ass if you wanted to. but you won't, will you?"

"no..." you whimpered as his fingers sought out your clit, hovering over it and stroking around it to work you up. "wanna be good, captain, please."

"that's all i ever wanted to hear," steve said with a giddy smile. satisfied that he'd corrected your attitude, he gave in and rubbed your clit in earnest. "there's my good girl. i always knew you were in there somewhere."

"oh my god, yes," you breathed as he buried a finger inside you. he explored your walls with gentle thrusts, almost too gentle. you wiggled impatiently in his lap, creating friction on his bulge which was pressing into your side.

"careful," steve hissed. "you may be a super scary witch, but my cock would still split you open without some prep. you gotta be patient. can you do that for me?"

you whined but agreed to his terms. as a reward, he added a second finger. you could feel yourself stretching to accommodate his thick digits. sensing the resistance, steve searched for something to distract you—literally. he probed along your walls like a man on a mission, grinning when you cried out.

"gotcha," he murmured, almost to himself. your pussy fluttered and clenched wildly around him. "that's it, sugar, keep squeezing my fingers just like that. can't wait to be inside you, sweets."

steve's next move was calculated; he was a strategist, after all. as he worked in a third finger, he traced his thumb up to your clit, rubbing it harshly in time with his thrusts. you were a goner as soon as you felt three huge fingers stretching you out and doting on your g-spot.

"oh, princess, i know it feels so good. it's okay, you're doing so good, yes, my good girl, coming on your captain's lap like this," steve coaxed you through your orgasm with sweet nothings.

before you even had time to recover, steve swept you up bridal-style and carried you to the bedroom. "what happened to being patient?" you quipped as he put you down on the bed and unbuckled his belt.

"i haven't wanted someone the way i want you in 70 years," he responded, practically jumping out of his clothes to get to you. now fully nude, steve's cock bobbed between his legs, twitching and weeping precum. "forgive me if i'm in a hurry now that i finally have you."

his words rolled over you like a warm blanket, shielding you from all fear and uncertainty. steve climbed on top of you and rid you of your dress, the last item of clothing hiding your body from his hungry eyes.

"so beautiful, baby bird," steve marveled at your tits as he kneaded them, groaning out loud at their softness. you writhed underneath him, desperate to feel all of him. "ready?"

at your affirmative nod, steve pushed his hips forward and notched his mushroom tip inside your entrance. you sucked in a breath through your teeth at the intrusion. "oh steve, you're so —" you held your breath as he fed you another inch, "big! too big..."

"i know, lovebug, i'm sorry. i'm right here with you." steve cooed. he kept his hips still and peppered featherlight kisses all over your face. "you can take it. just open up for me, let me in."

"o-okay..." you whispered, relaxing your body. steve continued. he captured your lips in a greedy kiss, swallowing every moan and whine and mmph! you had to give him. before long, he was seated fully inside you.

"i'm so proud of you," steve pulled away from the kiss to shoot you a lust(love?)-drunk smile. "can i move now? you deserve a reward for being so brave."

"yes, ple—ah!" your reply was cut off with a squeal as he thrust forward at an angle, hitting your sweet spot with ease. he picked up the pace, more at ease knowing you were enjoying yourself. the burn of his cock stretching your walls now felt pleasant, especially when he snuck his fingers down to your bundle of nerves.

"fuck, angel, i'm not gonna last," steve panted, his dick driving into you even faster. "you're so tight, chokin' me... come with me. let go for me, love."

as he spoke, his fingers went into overdrive on your clit. this, combined with the near-intolerable feeling of fullness, sent you over the edge. you felt yourself clench and spasm around him, triggering steve's release. he came with a shout, rope after rope of hot liquid coating your walls.

in your warm post-orgasmic haze, you felt like you were floating. then steve pried himself away from you and off the bed.

"where are you going?" you asked shyly.

"to get a washcloth. you don't have to be afraid, little bird. i'm gonna take care of you."

you smiled to yourself and closed your eyes again, knowing his words to be true.

[dilf-rot]

Watching Me, Watching You

Prompt: The Glance: Two people can't stop glancing at each other

Word Count: 1966

MDNI 18+

AN: I got the Wolverine brain rot, so here's the first of many short fics I've been working on. Feedback is always appreciated! <3

Tags: Logan Howlett x Reader, Wolverine x Reader, Reader is a student, Fem!Reader, Set in the X-Mansion, Age Gap implied (Reader is 20+), Light Angst, Semi Public / Outdoor Sex, Fingering, No P in V here, sorry ladies 

If you enjoy my work consider sending me a tip at https://ko-fi.com/rotwrites (Not required by any means, writing requests are still free!)

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You notice it when you first walk into the mansion. He looked you over, huffed, and walked away. You hadn’t even introduced yourself to him, not that it mattered, as you would be running into him randomly as time went on.

In classes when he was around you would glance at him, try to figure out what his problem with you was. But, if you were being honest with yourself, you were more so looking at him just to look. He was well built, sculpted and defined muscles, a rough and tumble sort of demeanor. His entire aura was something compelling and at the same time made to push you away. But that only pulled you in further. He had caught you looking his way a few times, smirking as he met your gaze. He was used to this sort of thing, and part of him enjoyed it. He would look your way when you weren’t paying attention. Watching you as you talked to other students, as you went through training exercises, even as you walked past in the hallways, not knowing he was there but feeling someone's eyes on you. 

You weren’t sure how long this had gone on before you became more aware of it, more conscious that his glances weren’t out of malice or annoyance. You noticed him wandering the hall in the evening, he had a cigar in his hand, which was definitely not allowed inside. You followed him as he walked out into the gardens. The sun had set and there were very few lights on, the vibrant plantlife breathing with the gentle wind. 

He came to a bench and sat, lighting his cigar and taking in a drag. He looked up and immediately spotted you, standing half hidden behind a hedge.

“You gonna follow me all night?”

“Sorry,” You turned to leave, to retreat back into the mansion and to never look his way again. 

“Come here,” His voice was stern and something in you couldn’t break away from it. You compiled and walked up to the bench, stopping right in front of him. “Sit.”

He tapped the open space next to him and you followed, the cool metal against your skin made you shiver. The night air crisp as you tried to steady your breathing and calm your racing heart. You sat in silence as he smoked, not daring to look up from the ground, or to even utter a sound. When he had finished, he tapped the cigar out on the side of the bench, pocketing its remains in his jacket. 

“So you’ll stare at me all day but as soon as I’m next to ya, you can’t even look at me?” He chuckled to himself, stretching out against the bench. His thigh just barely brushing against yours.

“You started it.” 

“Oh did I?” His tone is sarcastic, slightly taunting. 

“When I first came here,” You finally looked up to meet his gaze. His eyes soften and a small smile spreads on his face. 

“I remember, but I think you were staring back at me,” He looks down at the small space between you, seeing how close you are to him makes him sit up straight. He adjusts his jacket and stands up from the bench, “Listen Kid, I'm flattered by your little crush but I’m too old for you.” He pauses for a moment, looking over you before looking back towards the mansion.

“I’m old enough,” You stand from the bench, stepping closer to him.

“That's what all you girls say,” He mumbles half to himself.

“Can I try to get to know you?” You look up at him, his jaws clenched and his brows knit together.

He looks down at the gravel path below you, “You don’t want to know me.”

“Please?” Your voice is soft and gentle. The cold night air nips at your skin, and his silence feels long and deafening. 

“Fine.” He sounds defeated, but not angry.

From that point on instead of simply staring at Logan, you would talk to him too. Sharing a few words here and there in the hallway. Stopping by the kitchen before bed to share a story. Talking after classes about assignments, training schedules, anything and everything you could possibly talk about, you would try to bring it up with him. You had thought you had built up a good rapport, that perhaps, god forbid, you were becoming friends. Or you had hoped that, up until you began to find Logan harder and harder to come by. He wasn’t in any of his usual places around the mansion, and you hadn’t seen him teach a class in weeks. You wondered if he had been shipped off somewhere, or if he was really that keen on avoiding you. No one else seemed to notice or say anything. It’s as if slowly, but almost definitely, The Wolverine had disappeared. 

After a particularly sleepless night, you found yourself wandering out into the gardens. The sun barely peeked out from the horizon, the sky still half dark and stars filled. As you walked towards the center, you finally saw him. Standing there next to the fountain, back turned to you. In sweatpants and a tank top that seemed too small for him by the way it clung to each ridge of muscle in his back. You thought about saying something, about his sudden disappearance from your day to day life, but before you could even form the words he turned and spotted you immediately. He sits and taps the edge of the fountain, beckoning you forward, “How ya doing, Kid?”

“Can’t you call me something else?” You sit next to him, leaving a noticeable gap between him and yourself.

“Sorry, princess.” Heat rises to your cheeks. He smirks, pleased with himself. 

“Where have you been?” You look at his hand as it clings the edge of the stone, his fingers curled around it, the muscles in his arm tensing as he tightens his grip.

He tries hard to think of a good reason while ignoring your gaze, but there isn’t one. “I was-”

“Avoiding me?” You finish the thought for him, having already figured that was the case when he first disappeared. 

“Yeah,” He sighs.

“Why? I thought we were getting somewhere.” Your gaze lingers on his face, watching for any hint of remorse. “God forbid we be friends.”

“You’re too nice. I wouldn’t want to ruin that.” He can’t find it in himself to look at you, turning himself away, looking anywhere else.

“In case you haven’t realized, everyone in this fucking place comes pre-ruined. That's sort of the downside of mutants. We’re all fucked over by something in someway before we ever even step foot in here.” You stand from the fountain, ready to be done with this and find something else to occupy yourself with.

“It’s different,” He stands as well, not ready for you to leave.

“It’s not.” As you start to walk away, he snatches your wrist and pulls you in against him, his chest warm and hot, you can barely process what is happening before he leans down and kisses you. Gently at first, before the want bubbled over inside of him and he couldn’t hold back any longer.

“I don’t want to be your friend,” He says breathlessly, forehead pressed to yours. You kiss him back in response, knowing it was never really your intention to be friends either. Knowing that from the first moment you saw him, you would never be able to maintain good boundaries, or keep naughty thoughts from appearing in your mind.

His hand lets go of your wrist and drops to your waist, pulling you as tight against him as possible, wrapping his arms around you. You feel dizzy,  your mind hazy from the sudden but welcome relief. He kisses you with fervor, as if to make up for his earlier stupidity. You can’t help but moan into him as he slips his tongue into your mouth. The hot and wet sensation of his tongue sliding against yours. 

As he parts from you, you remember how exposed the two of you are, out in the middle of the courtyard, far too close to the mansion. He seems to know exactly what you’re thinking. In one swift movement he picks you up, carrying you off and placing you down on the soft clover lawn hidden amongst hedges. 

“Logan-” you whine as he’s standing over you, looking down on you. 

He grins, “You look so pretty all splayed out.”

You hide your face with your hands, embarrassed by the position you’ve been put in. Suddenly shy about the situation. 

“No need to hide,” He’s hovering above you, holding himself up on his knees and elbows. He lowers your hands. His expression is soft, a gentle smile as he leans in to kiss you more. His hands are holding yours at your sides. His kisses pick up pace and ferocity, making you whimper and melt beneath him. 

One of his hands lets go of yours and traces along the edge of your thigh, drawing little lines and circles. He brings his hand up to the waistband of your pants, breaking away from you to seek reassurance from you.

“Please,” you whine, pressing your hips up against him. He groans and slips his hand underneath your pants, quickly finding your clit, rubbing in small circles as he returns to kissing you. You feel entirely encompassed by him, lost in his scent, his taste, the groaning sounds he makes as you lift your hands to tangle them in his hair. 

He slides his fingers along your panties, the fabric becoming slick and sticky from your growing wetness. You whimper softly, pressing your hips up against his hands, rutting against him, seeking out as much contact as possible, wanting nothing more than his fingers to sink inside of you.

He kisses and nips along your neck as his fingers push aside your underwear and he rolls your clit between his fingertips, the sensation causing you to jolt against him. You can feel his smile against your skin as he rubs one finger along your entrance, teasing you only for a moment before he slowly slips it inside. His hands are large and rough and yet he is being so very gentle with you, it’s maddening. The way he rocks his finger in and out, making you crave more, wishing he would just ruin you.

“More, please… Logan,” You beg, gripping onto his arms, dragging your nails across his shoulders and biceps. He practically moans at this. He can’t deny you, adding another finger, and curling them in unison to press that sweet spot inside. He pushes and pulls them in and out of you with near expert precision, drawing you closer and closer to your limit. 

“So fucking pretty, you’re such a good girl.” He whispers in your ear, and you clench around his fingers, feeling so close, but still wanting more. He rocks his hand against you so that your clit presses against his palm. The friction is sweet and drives you just that much closer. He whispers saccharine and filthy things into the skin of your neck as he continues pumping his fingers in and out. You feel so very close. When he finally brings you over the edge he captures your moans in a kiss, slipping his tongue into your mouth. You can hardly kiss back as you lose yourself in him.

As you come down from your high you manage to breathe out, “Fuck…”

He chuckles softly, and helps you sit up. You reach out for the waistband of his pants, wanting to do for him as he did for you, but he catches your hand.

“Next time, Sweetheart, I promise.”

[barren-heart]

The Hidden Love Story of What We Do in the Shadows: How The Internet Fell in Love with Harvey Guillen’s Guillermo de la Cruz

I think it’s fair to call this show what it is: a comedy.

The actors have said it’s themselves: the show is 50% improv, 50% script. A lot of what we see is a brilliant collaboration of talent, writing, and the actors saying the funniest thing they can say about something in that moment.

According to Harvey Guillen, some scenes would last 30 minutes each if they didn’t cut it down. That improv is what makes the show what is it: the funniest show on television.

What’s interesting about this little Shit and Fart show (affectionate), is the heart of it all: Guillermo.

Originally the show was looking for an older man to play Nandor’s familiar. The character had worked for his master for 20 years, not 10 as we see in the pilot episode.

Harvey got an audition randomly. At a wine and cheese night of a friend’s, he was invited to audition for the part. It was random, but also, it was fate.

Let me explain.

Harvey Guillen auditioning for the role of Guillermo

(I actually have the full audition tape of Harvey’s if anyone’s interested.) Link below!

Harvey didn’t “fit the part” (Harvey’s words) whatsoever of this character and decided to dress himself to look older, putting on what he calls his Harry Potter glasses and parted his hair down the middle.

The Guillermo we see in the pilot was all Harvey’s idea of what that character should be and the costuming department just ran with it. It’s also fun to point out that to those who don’t know, Harvey created Guillermo’s last name even before he knew he’d play the show’s Vampire Slayer.

I mention this because I don’t think they (showrunner, producers,etc) expected Guillermo to become such a fan favorite. Which kinda explains why his character is the punching bag of season one and why it somewhat changes as seasons go by.

I mean, we don’t even see Guillermo in this season one poster (we don’t see Colin Robinson, either. But I feel like I could write an entirely other post about that character and why I think he’s genuinely the best and most consistently written character on the show. But I won’t right now).

I think they expected Guillermo to be a one-note side kick, which is fine. Many of Harvey’s previous roles were nearly background characters (think Benedict Pickwick in The Magicians).

But, Harvey’s take on the character coupled with his talent at being both comedic and dramatic really shined through. And I think that’s where you start to see that maybe they could do more with him than just being the funny guy in the background.

I also think that’s why you start to see some threading of a more serious plot when it comes to Guillermo’s storyline because of Harvey’s range.

Who would’ve known a funny bit like being a Van Helsing descent in a house full of vampires would get you compelling scenes like the familiar fight The Night Market, Nouveau Théâtre des Vampires, and the Nandor and Guillermo fight in The Portrait?

Harvey mentioned having to train for these and wanted to do his own stunts! And he does them well!

Did they imagine Guillermo being such a badass in the pilot? Probably not. But he is and people took to it. The serious fight scenes (even with bits of comedy filtered in) really stand out in their own as excellent action scenes.

Along with badass scenes, Harvey delivered compelling emotional scenes like Guillermo’s coming out (which Harvey actually cried in as well as other cast and crew, and they had to edit it to not make it too serious), the scene he left Nandor for Celeste, and many scenes in S5’s Exit Interview.

I also think they didn’t anticipate his chemistry with Kayvan Novak. It’s brought up a lot in interviews with them and everyone can tell that they genuinely are really good friends in real life, which makes acting together on screen that much better.

(Funny enough, he was supposed to do a chemistry read with Kayvan before shooting and wasn’t able to meet him until they were on set for the pilot. )

I think in some ways, even though the show wanted it to be a funny Gaston and Lefou type relationship, Kayvan and Harvey had undeniable chemistry you couldn’t deny.

And I think that began to grow with their character’s evolving relationship. From master and servant to friends to sometimes the show and network alluding to them being in a romance (Guillermo’s drunk love confession, Marwa liking what Nandor likes, the Network making videos about shipping Nandermo).

And even Paul Simms (the one who is being grilled for That’s His Boss quote), also said “Guillermo and Nandor is the greatest love story in modern television.”

So yeah, I think originally they started the show with the intention that it was supposed to be similar to the movie that shares its name. The Nandor/Guillermo drama of Shadows the TV show would be so out of place in the movie. The whole Guillermo vampire arc, if it was movie inspired, would not be as dramatic as they have made it in the show.

Looking back to the pilot, I can see that they really tried to make it as close to the source material as possible. But I think it took off in a direction that even the creators didn’t imagine it would go. Just a silly little comedy show about silly little vampires. And don’t get me wrong, it still definitely is.

But the show has evolved. And for better or worse, Nandor and Guillermo’s relationship will be one of the most compelling things about the show and I’m curious where they are going to take it now.

I guess this turned into a bit of an Harvey Guillen appreciation post and honestly, why not? Look at that adorable face.

[schrodingersauthorii]

Anime only people probably think the Horrible Exorcists/ Matoba enthusiasts are just insane fujoshis. And some of them are.

But it’s a HUGE DIFFERENCE between a guy who kidnaps, blackmails, and threatens you, and a guy who kidnaps, blackmails, and threatens you BUT ALSO is willing to drop everything to help you save some ceramic cats and then randomly helps your friend with a yokai problem for no apparent gain (and in a way that doesn’t involve any torture of ayakashi.)

I’m not even bringing up the Kuromine Misa thing until vol. 30 drops in November. I don’t know where that takes Matoba as a character, but it sure is a direction.

Like. No, further plot developments really do change your fundamental understanding of this character. He did commit those atrocities, but with further reading, you will find he’s actually some sort of morally grey train wreck in progress. There are plenty of less sympathetic anti-hero protagonists out there, and most of them aren’t nearly as compelling- since every new Matoba development escalates to the point it feels like looking both ways before crossing the street only to get hit by a plane.

There’s no way he’s getting a true redemption arc- not in this setting, with his ethic sensibilities- but you can see the possibility if things were different. (Basically fanfiction catnip.)

Even Natsume’s getting sympathetic in universe. The vibe’s completely different- at this point, Natsume would be *disappointed* if Matoba crossed the line again, not just scared of him. You cannot write a traditional villain Matoba anymore: he must, at the very least, be a Moral Pragmatist, Pet the Dog villain or he’s OoC. And at that shade of grey, one person’s villain is another’s anti-hero.

So, no, people aren’t (just) hallucinating excuses for their poor little meow meow, the character development was actually just that bananas.

[kerubimcrepin]

LIVEBLOG: Wakfu Season 4, Episode 8 [PART 2]

Our guy is finally starting to understand how bad things are. <3

I think what he hates the most (after teleporting one singular time) is how this makes him lose his face. The #1 thing Joris hates the most, always, and forever, is appearing weak or unprofessional.

Yeaa lmao, everyone except for him has immediately oriented themselves in the portal, while he's struggling with the process and the landing...

Joris is way too confused to even begin being mad at this shit. Like ok. This is happening now.

I think the reason he isn't mad at this later is that it's a logical decision to [grumble, grumble] support a member of their party who was [deep sigh] struggling with teleportation for their common good as a team. Even if it was him.

The voices in my head compel me to screenshot him more.

I think Joris said this because he heard Yugo wonder if it's a trap and Yugo's opinions are very important to him <3 He's just like "man Yugo was right. 😑 as he tends to be when he's not being blinded by emotions. [is himself blinded by emotions as he is saying this]"

Joris is probably starting to get mad at Ad by now, but once again, "ughh I guess carrying the guy with the teleportation sickness, while we are all being chased by an eldritch horror, is logical... fuck's sake..."

I could write a novel about how good Toross is at randomly guessing Joris's insecurities and hitting them like every button on the keyboard.

He literally put the meaning of "You're 3ft tall, and I don't really take you seriously, and also the juxtaposition of all these three words diminishes your serious air of adulthood. You look a bit pathetic and boring, btw, despite all the expensive clothes and earnest airs. You're compensating very hard for something you don't have, and I can see that. :)" into two lines of dialogue.

And then he also uses the scare tactic of "btw I can see your Wakfu. And you are very good prey. Because you're a prey animal here. Did I mention I was going to eat you." (and also, unknowingly, this is striking at Joris insecurity #2: people learning information about him and, god forbid, perceiving him.)

AND the finisher is "however you're not good enough to be the main dish and I don't give a shit about you."

Loving Joris's little pout here. A very cute and balanced reaction to psychological warfare. Despite Toross hitting multiple good attack points, he only shows a little bit of seething on his face (but probably enough for Toross to know this got him a reaction. <3)

OF COURSE the guy whose feelings were insulted the most goes immediately after Adamai. He's so transparent about being mad, it's so funny...

When given swords, he literally fights like Atcham. [starts throwing up blood everywhere] Yeah no, no, I'm fine. Ignore me.

Of course you'd be good at dodging magical projectiles, and using your front paws to help you with jumping and standing while keeping your spine low to the ground (to avoid hits and get ready to jump/run once again). Where did you get these moves from? Your uncle? 🤣

He's so maddd.

Yeah he is mad, but also he is his usual calculating self: trying to get close to him to find any possible weakness, while trying not to show that it is, in fact, what he is trying to do. He is locked in.

Cat behaviour once again. Looking like a wild animal is a normal thing for him to do.

You see: for Joris, this is revenge for all the shit this guy said — and also a way to prove his worth as a human being, despite the fact that all those things Toross said are true. If he acts like he is cold and calculating and useful, nobody will know that it actually bothered him. His status as someone thick-skinned and heroic will be proven.

(He learned the "circle them to try and get closer while they're busy shooting you, and then attack them from the back" method from Atcham too, btw.)

[444takeomi]

PIERCING HCS

: ̗̀➛ summary: waka with dick piercings

character(s): wakasa imaushi

warnings: female reader, nsfw, dick piercings (obvs), oral, mutual masturbation, overstimulation, sending nudes, brief mentions of alcohol

wc: 0.5k

a/n: idk what compelled me to write this but anyway, i hope you enjoy and happy birthday waka

- okay so first of all i think that waka’s first piercing (aside from his signature earring, of course) was purely the result of him losing a bet whilst he was drunk, and while that alone doesn't sound so bad, it turns out it was his dick that he had to get pierced

- even if at first he didn't see the appeal, he still decided to go through with it because he's petty like that ahaha

- after doing a little research he decided on a frenum piercing — minimal pain, it looks cool, it increases both his and his partner's pleasure, what's not to love?

- his overall experience wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be, of course it was still painful, but the aching subsided fairly quickly and the healing process was rather straightforward

- as often happens when it comes to getting pierced, waka found himself going back for another, and another again, and eventually he ended up with a full jacob's ladder

- he didn't stop there either, he also got a few others like an industrial, helix, and he definitely got his tongue pierced as well

- he absolutely hated healing his tongue purely because he couldn't drink any alcohol while it healed💀

- the first time you saw his dick you were in complete shock, your eyes glued to the metal bars adorning his shaft — waka certainly enjoyed your reaction, unable to stop himself from smirking in amusement at the look on your face

- if the sight alone wasn't enough to leave you at a loss for words, the way he fucked you had left you unable to even think straight let alone speak

- the feeling of the numerous metal balls dragging along your walls made your head spin, your eyes rolling into the back of your head as he pounded your g-spot with every thrust, sending you towards an orgasm that had your toes curling as you gasped and creamed around his cock

- waka’s piercings definitely make him a lot more sensitive since he has so many of them, and it didn't take you long to figure that out — all it took was for you to run your tongue over his frenum piercing and he was putty in your hands

- he loves overstimulating himself, and if you're lucky you'll catch him whining desperately in your ear as he fucks you, he tries to hold back but it just feels so good </3

- waka is already so good at eating pussy but his tongue piercing just enhances everything, also he definitely owns one of those vibrating tongue bars and always asks if he can use it on you

- he loves to randomly send you nudes, to be honest it's mainly so that he has an excuse to show off his piercings💀

- but he genuinely takes the best dick pics, they always have great lighting and perfect angles, and not to mention his dick is ridiculously pretty too <3

- also enjoys mutual masturbation — likes to put on a show for you, stroking his dick tantalisingly slow all while gasping and throwing his head back as he fucks his own fist, and he will definitely tease you if he catches you staring

- probably asks to get matching piercings with you, and if you have any others already he loves playing with them when the two of you cuddle (providing they're fully healed ofc)

- overall waka’s piercings are a lot of fun for both him and you, and they certainly keep things interesting ahaha

please do not translate, repost, or share my writing on any other platforms eg. tiktok

[cinnanamii]

Ganjis 3rd year birthday letter and the heavy mischaracterization of the characters in game 3/just ranting about the birthday letter

(⚠️⚠️‼️THIS POST WILL BE DISCUSSING LEAKS/SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR GAME 3 OF IDV!! IF YOU DONT WANT TO BE SPOILED ON GANJIS 3RD YEAR LETTER OR GAME 3, SCROLL AWAY PLEASE! AND ALSO KEEP IN MIND, I AM NOT A GAME 3 EXPERT! IF I GET ANYTHING WRONG FEEL FREE TO CORRECT ME!!‼️⚠️⚠️)

Ganjis 3rd year letter was leaked recently (you can probably find post about it on tiktok and on discord servers) and I am so far beyond unimpressed and disappointed.

To start out this yap session/rant, I’m going to list the characters serial numbers, so that you can know who I will be talking about so that you can get a grip on what I will be discussing.

• 3-1-2 is anne

• 3-?-1 is aesop

• 3-1-4 is ganji

• 3-?-3 is Victor

The fact that netease decided to fill the letter with shock value racism, ruin annie as a character, and just ruined Ganjis character arc, and basically made Victor useless is so BEYOND me. This is a a lot, so I wanna start by talking about the blatant mischaracterization of annie and ganji in this letter.

To start off, they made annie so unnecessarily, hateful and racist towards ganji. It would make sense for annie to be afraid of loud noises, as they did introduce her as a timid woman, but making her afraid of ganji and becoming violent to him because of his accent is so beyond me. The whole reason why annie attacked ganji was originally because aesop manipulated annie into hurting him, not that annie got scared of the way he spoke? Plus, due to her timid and sweet girl type personality i could never see annie physically fighting/attacking ganji, it’s just not something that would happen. How could she ever have the confidence to do that, when she was literally scared of ganji? Then, on top of that, annie wouldn’t be provoked by his accent so easy? In her trailer, she was literally described to be like her mother, who was very nice, that being a trait annie had. So for her to just go attacking him so so EXTREMELY out of character for her.

Then, next screenshot I’m showing right now is the shock value racism randomly put in this for god who knows why?

“unfavorable impression” caused by 3-1-4’s accent? This is so ooc for annie, it feels like a poorly written oc/au. The antagonization of annie feels so unnecessary and just not needed. Game 3 might not have had a Hunter, but it did have an antagonist, that being aesop. The whole antagonization doesn’t feel right for her at all.

Then now, I wanna talk about Victor. One of the main things in game 3 is that they were not able to talk or communicate with each other. if they were able to do that, what’s the point of him even being here if they could already speak verbally? His writing was already kinda not the best, but this entire letter takes whatever relevance he had to the plot away. He needs to get something consistent, or else in this case his character is just useless. It’s completely unfair that aesop is able to get clear motivations and goals, but the other characters goals and aspirations just get handled horribly.

Game 3 was so unique in the way it functioned, and with the characters that were so similar, but so different at the same time. What could have been a group of compelling a deeply well written characters now feel like a dumpster fire or mischaracterization and the severe lack of coherence. All just from one letter too. This feels like a big fat slap in the face for me as someone who loved game 3, and all of the characters for game 3, ESPECIALLY annie, and if you loved game three, also this should feel like a slap in the face for you too.

**im aware that this is a leak, and it could be potentially false, but this has been on my mind practically ever since I heard of it, and everything is just so absurd.**

edit: the letter was updated and changed, a few things did change (examp; annie isnt racist anymore) but that dosent mean I don’t have issues with the letter, I’ll probably make an updated post eventually if people r still interested in this

[lucystark12]

What is the most compelling byler evidence (if u haven’t already been asked this)

i fully with my entire soul believe that as a writing choice, byler would be one of the most intelligently written plot lines in modern media. i've said it before and i'll say it again, by writing mike as a gay character and by making will be in love with him in a show where love is the fundamental theme and thing that triumphs evil, they are taking such a power play not just against societal norms, but against their viewers as a whole- it was written it in such a realistic and intricate way that not everybody picked up on first watch, yet becomes painstakingly obvious if you know what youre looking for. as a serial reader and shipping enthusiast, i genuinely don't think i've ever encountered a more beautiful love story than byler (if it ends the way i want it to). it's genius. it's raw. it's hidden just enough to be interpreted as a plot twist, but it has always been there. they are quite literally the embodiment of the classic fanfic line "it's you, it's always been you"

it makes so much narrative sense, but as far as evidence in the way that the byler community typically speaks to evidence, the most compelling bits in my eyes are-

finn and noah's acting. they are both incredibly good actors, and everything that we see them do and over analyze like the glances or looks was intentional. they didn't just do that. these scenes get shot over and over again and something that seems so intentional wouldn't just randomly make the final cut, especially when it happens again and again.

the music associated with either character. i mean, come on. smalltown boy? are we kidding? totally intentional!!

[pokemoncenterofficial]

hmmmm... we need a little more holiday cheer on this website of websites! and i need to post more on this account! (sorry everyone, work's been... worse than usual. holidays are always busy for the social media reps, lol)

i propose a rotomblr secret santa! slash discreet delibird, slash sneaky snorunt, et cetera, et cetera.

if you've never done a secret santa, it works like this.

reblog this post to sign up!

once signups are closed, i'll write down the blog URLs of everyone who's joining and use the power of Some Dice I Own to randomly assign everyone a person to get a gift for! (don't worry, i won't say who has who!)

i'll message you with your present target!

get a gift for the person you were given! you could make it, buy it, sneak around on their blog to see what they want, go wild! just make sure not to tell anyone who you've gotten!

on december 23rd (seems like an uneventful-ish date, right?), everyone reveals who they've gotten and pelipper mails them their gift! fun for everyone!

you can sign up until sunday at midnight (//GMT-5)! the gift limit is... uuuh... i don't think we need one. whole several different currencies and universes thing makes that hard. dont buy anyone a new tv or anything and we're fine! gifts will be given on december 23rd (but if you can't be there, feel free to give it before or after!)

//hi! yeah! mini event! will just kinda go basically as told, but feel free to PM me for gift ideas for my characters if youd like. use the tag #rotomblr secret santa if you feel so compelled? feel free to sign up multiple muses! this is just a teeny tiny little thing and i hope you all have fun!

[mecachrome]

fic writer questions

haiii thank u @bright-and-burning for the tag :') nobody is online so i will Reflect and return with a worse image...

how many works do you have on AO3?

20 (16 on my main account, 4 on my sports account)... and then 15 more on dreamwidth 🥲

what's your total ao3 word count?

175.5k T__T

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

gurllll. no one needs to see my 11th grade k-pop fic like that

do you respond to comments? why or why not?

i try my best but i have a difficult relationship with my writing so i often block out that i wrote a fic at all after some time and it hinders my ability to acknowledge commenters directly ;__; and then i always feel awkward responding like 6 months late to someone so i just let it go even though i know no one actually minds... i really do appreciate every comment i get though and deeply cherish everyone's kind words and generosity!!!

what's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

i don't really write angsty endings tbh i just write vaguely bittersweet ambiguous stuff... perhaps sharl character study i wrote for a friend's birthday would be up there because the whole thing is just inelegant whump LOL

what's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

for my own birthday a couple of years ago i wrote an extremely self-indulgent k-pop fic with all of my favorite tropes and also coded elaborate interactive html/css elements with multimedia messages and notifications you could tap on and the whole thing was just sweet secret relationship toothrutting fluff 💗 anyway extremely cringe but i enjoyed myself and thought it was mostly cute

do you write crossovers?

i haven't for any fictional fandoms... the concept is fun though!

have you ever received hate on a fic?

not directly 2 my face !!!

do you write smut? if so, what kind?

i'm an ambiguous fade 2 black kind of guy even if i do try my best at times... TT i'm just too repressed 4 this life unfortunately. pwp writers have my major respect it really is sooo difficult to write cohesive compelling comprehensible porn 

have you ever had a fic stolen?

idts but i have had oomfs/people adjacent my circles turn out to be plagiarizers which is always an unpleasant surprise!

have you ever had a fic translated?

yasss shoutout to anyone who has translated my random fics to russian or spanish 🧡

have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes ! i wrote a bnha au for a k-pop ship with my friend once lol she wrote most of it and i kind of just contributed a scene and the concept but it was still really fun, she's a much better writer than i could ever hope to be... also helped friend finish a fic for a fest once because it was overdue and she tapped out so i was up until 6am filling in scenes randomly for her. oh to be 18 again <3

what's your all-time favorite ship?

unfortunately in f1 it is simply landoscar... all-time i don't know!!! actually i do but i don't want to say it. nvm

what's a wip that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

arghhh... all of my 814 wips at the moment honestly. especially my kidfic verse that i'm deeply attached to but tragically incapable of working on TT and the jb81 that i totally gave up on!!!

what are your writing strengths?

this is an oxymoron.... i have never written anything good in my entire life. i love to beta read other people's fic for grammar though that's always fun

what are your writing weaknesses?

poor/stiff dialogue, horrible romantic development, inconsistent scene lengths, completely flat plot, no concept of good writing practices in general, a horrible tendency to purple prose, inability to write any actual conflict, i could go on

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

ehmmm i had a lot of strong opinions on this in k-pop fandom LOL and then it was funny to see the same thing happening in f1 but just with different languages (so much random french/german dialogue...) but i think there are untranslatable or commonly recognized words that can be sprinkled in verbatim, like in k-pop it makes sense to use certain honorifics that don't have english equivalents but i draw the line at not translating existing terms like "mom" lol... but i have a lot of thoughts on how languages are communicated in fic in general (perhaps too many), like i also overthink how to communicate grammatical structure - so if i'm writing a french character speaking french but presenting the dialogue in english or same with korean in k-pop fic i usually try to make it flow in a way that is as grammatically reasonable as possible, which goes beyond simple semantics but into the actual logic of syntax + verb order... ok i'll stop actually

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

i was writing crasy fanfiction in middle school 🧡 earliest i remember though is probably naruto circa 6th/7th grade... honestly hard to say because i purged a lot of my ffdotnet output out of shame in 8th grade lmfao

what's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

I Forgor...

what's your favorite fic you've written?

for my sports fics i'm partial to my latest 814 fic because i feel like it's just generally inoffensive and not plainly awful 🤔 in general though i'm attached to some of my like most niche audience_of_2 dw fic that i've written for nugu boy groups with literally 0 fans. like a level of total nobodyness few can comprehend........... we were in the trenches

no pressure tagging @piastrisms @chelemlem @miamimaiden @liamlawsonlesbian if it would be of any interest ! 🥰

[fayedartmouth]

Why do you love JJ so much? I'm not complaining, I love your writing and am working my way through all of your Outer Banks fics, but I am curious what exactly makes him a character you can write so much about.

Well, if I didn't write too much, I wouldn't write anything at all.

I mean, I tend to always have a hyperfixation in a fandom, and it is my driving force in the fandom.  It's what differentiates just watching a show from joining a fandom for me.  A show I can enjoy generically and not really dwell on it.  When I'm in a fandom, it's because my brain has latched onto a character and won't let go.

Which is to say, I think part of it is just a mindset.  I need a character to fixate on because I need something to preoccupy my imagination.  I have a very active inner world -- and a nonstop inner narrative -- so I tend to pick a character and get lost.  On average, my fixations last at least one year.  Some of them, in the right fandoms, will last much longer.  That usually depends on the activity level within fandom and the interactions I have with other fans.  The more I'm talking and active within a fandom, the easier it is for me to maintain.

That said -- why JJ.

I'll be honest about how it started because if you've read my work you know what I like.  But it was whump.  I have a habit (possibly a weird habit??) of randomly looking up whump I haven't seen/read on the internet.  So I'll scroll through Youtube and just look for vids with whump.  This is how I came across Outer Banks -- and the scene that caught me was JJ going overboard at the end of S2.  It was intriguing enough to read up more on the show/character, and finally to watch.

Admittedly, I was a little unsure when I started S1.  JJ was a little more abrasive than what I usually like in a character.  Essentially, he's a juvenile delinquent, and him going around firing guns and stealing money was not my typical jam.  However, the way the show unfurled JJ's storyline in S1 was really pretty compelling.  He takes the fall for Pope -- which was a pretty big thing in and of itself, and then you realize he did it knowing that it would earn him a beating -- and you start to really see who JJ is.  (Not to mention the horrible anxiety I felt watching him pace in his room while Luke berated him -- and like how you can see him struggling with the negative monologue and how it comes to this near breaking point where he almost shoots him -- and doesn't.)

What sealed it was definitely the hot tub scene for me.  He's so wildly out of control and he's being so dumb in that episode -- but then you see the whole fall out, how he wants his dad to be proud of him, how it's literally tearing him apart to live like that, and just the complete self destruction he goes through.  And the way he tries to be flippant about it?  It just about destroyed me.

And then he STOOD UP and the others saw the bruises.  And this is why I can't believe the writers were so bad in S4 because that was just an excellent revelation, and the turning point is that good and JJ just falls apart, and we see who he really is -- who he wants to be.  He just wants to be with a family -- his friends -- and the line "I just want to do the right thing" is so quintessentially JJ.  This is after JJ has made a string of ridiculous mistakes and messed up things badly -- and he just wants to do the right thing.  He doesn't even know what that is, and he's trying so hard -- and for what?  To end up with nothing?

Ultimately, JJ's desire to hide the things that hurt him most -- to act like the tough guy when he absolutely can't back it up -- is just what does it for me.  It's the ideal character to break apart and deconstruct -- and he's a prime candidate for whump.  Whump, at its core, is about forcing characters to be vulnerable.  And JJ will never be vulnerable unless he's been broken beyond repair -- so inflicting that trope on him just yields the kind of literary catharsis I crave.  I like forcing him to be vulnerable -- and I like forcing others to see the layers that he tries so desperately to hide.

And also, I kind of got invested in this idea of him becoming a functional adult.  Like in S2 when he tries to break JB out of jail, and he's in the back of the ambulance just like struggling with the fact that he knows he messed up -- is really a hard moment.  And the absolute resignation when Kie and Pope rescue him -- that futility of it all.  He's a character who literally can't see a future for himself, and I want to give him that future.  I want him to see that he deserves it and can have it.

The same is true in S3 when he's all but falling apart while his friends are running around and Kie is trying to kiss him.  He's literally trying to survive and he's not in any shape to even think about a relationship, much less one with his dream girl.  Because what does he have to offer her?  When he doesn't even have food to eat?  Seeing JJ struggle with his lack of self worth was important to me -- because again, I thought this idiotic show was going to let him realize it and finally be happy.

Which is also why I can't stand what the show did to him.  Like, they set up this narratives for JJ's story -- they had an obvious arc for JJ's character to achieve -- and then they literally did the ONE THING that subverted it.  For me, JJ's entire purpose was to live.  He was supposed to figure out that he deserved to live.

And the show killed him.

At the hands of his father.

And he didn't get to say goodbye to his family and it meant nothing and WHY DID THE SHOW DO THIS TO JJ -- TO ME.  I don't know.  But this is why I reject the show and keep JJ, because I have to let him grow up.  I have to let him live.  I have to give him the future I thought he was going to have.  I will write every happy ending I can for him because damn it someone should.

Plus, I'm just a writer by nature. It's just kind of who I am. I mentioned earlier I have nonstop inner narratives. There's always a story unfolding in my head. If I don't write it down, I kind of go insane. This is my creative outlet and like okay maybe I was put on this planet to write ridiculous, bad whump fic. I can live with that.

Also Rudy Pankow is really pretty and I am obsessed with his hair.  So there's that, too.

[boombox-fuckboy]

(for the reverse Hot Take ask game) What are some things you like in The Antique Shop and a randomly selected podcast from your listen list starting with....J

The Antique Shop

Great format: a weird item an episode? A solid classic, and executed effectively.

Aroace lead: I'm bias, but I like how it comes through in Maya's character.

I enjoy how Maya complains. Genuinely, she has to deal with so much supernatural bullshit, at least she gets to complain to her heart's content.

I just really enjoy Ghostly Thistle's voice and writing style.

Jar of Rebuke

Another aspec lead.

Jared's relationship with their neurodivergency and gender is embarassingly relatable.

Grove... A good dog. A sweet lad. Jared going out to buy half the pet-shop for his new buddy.

Dax.

A character not being able to die used as an interesting story mechanism is very compelling.

The way the story is so often kind to the supernatural. Just because you can't understand it doesn't make it malicious.

Though sometimes it is. And that's entertaining too.

[quetzalpapalotl]

Arcee is like, one of the most mature and grounded characters by the end of the story. She has has a lot of time to self-reflect and her isolation led her to a place where she had to think for herself what she wants and how to achieve it in a way that's completely internaly motivated.

That being said, her status at the end puts her in sutuations that she's not used to. Her most meaningful relationship before this point was with Galvatron and that relied in the intimacy of growing up together and Just Being There and even that fell apart. She's never been in a situation where she had to regularly and constantly maintain a relationship with someone else, so I think she would stumble.

And I kinda want to write an aircee fic where Arcee experiences jealousy. She's being starved of affection her whole life and now that she has it losing it is all the more terrifying, by her own admission. And she can try to fight a world-ending threat but what could she do if Aileron just... didn't want her anymore.

And is not like she doesn't trust Aileron, but again this is all new for her, and she's used to people she thought she had a connection with dropping off. And there's probably some asymmetry in that we do see that Arcee is making more connections by the end but Aileron is a friendly girl and her social circle and the number of people that can cater to her emotional needs would be far bigger while Arcee would be more dependent on Aileron only.

I don't think Arcee would even realize what she's feeling at first because it makes no sense. She just randomly gets in a sour mood. She trusts Aileron, Aileron is not like other people. She has no reason to feel this way. It would take her some to be able to name the feeling and then some more to be not be ashamed of feeling like this.

Given that Camiens are all expected to have amicas and amicas are all potential conjuxes, I don't think this is a culture that would encourage romantic jealousy. Like of you're the jealous type you're going to have a bad time and probably be looked down for wanting to deprive your sparkmate of such important relationships. So this kind of thing is probably not something Ailerom ever expected having to reassure someome of.

I would like to write something with this because the world needs more aircee, but it's such a fluffy ship and I'm not compelled to write fluff so this could be a way to get around it. Not that I would want to make it too messy or angsty. It is very important in the context of the story that Arcee and Aileron's romance has very little friction so as much as I love pain I don't think this is a ship that would be improved by introducing needless angst. Mmmm....

[inventors-fair]

And So it Begins: Intro Commentary

I'm finally awake! Criminy, what a week. And we're doing it all again next week, too! Hm. Look, I'll level with y'all: the way my work schedule is right now, commentary's gonna be consistently pretty late unless we figure out some other way to do this. I can attempt cutting to one paragraph or lingering in the workshop at night, which I do enjoy doing after work from time to time! I just want to make sure that everyone gets a timely response to their cards, 'cause that's what we're all looking for when we submit.

In the generic sense, though: positive notes include the massive amount of subtle and pleasant storytelling that went into cards this week! Whenever someone submits a card that has a strong mechanical bend with flavor implications, that's where my heart shines. I really appreciate the effort that people put it to make the blend work together, and it's a tough talent.

In things to watch out for, there were a lot of mechanical blends this week. It's super cool to see, and there are also a lot of wording interactions to keep in mind for how things should appear on card with new precedent, reminder text, etc. to keep the card smooth. It's always worth double-checking to ensure your presentation matters.

JUDGE PICKS are cards that I'm terrified of choosing because there were so many good ones this week. How many after the fact? 22? I'll select... I guess five, but there's more. Y'all brought your a-game fr fr. Read on.

@bergdg — Livio, People's Champion

There's the inherent timing question that this card asks: can I cast this without flash? And yes, on that technicality you can do that but I don't feel that ambush groks as well without that minor addendum—an easy fix, though, so that's not too bad. Where it gets tricky is what ambushing means in a format. There are combat-like mechanics such as ninjutsu that, when known about, make combat more complicated. The fact that ambush is castable during an opponent's turn, I feel, disincentivises attacking into a known trick in a way that's harder to play around than just having combat tricks in a set. I feel that it needs some tweaking to avoid being a "Gotcha!" mechanic.

As for Livio itself, though, I can also read this as just being a flash creature for combat, and on that note it's a perfectly fine card. Disregarding the ambush side of things, flashing in a a lord/anthem is a great piece of strategy at rare and can turn that tide of combat quite effectively. I'm curious about the juxtaposition of "rebel" and "knight," though that's more a questioning of in-world fealty. Looking back on precedent, I guess Knight of the Holy Nimbus and its ilk are reasonable comparisons, but that's from a set that's not the greatest for precedent. Hey, maybe there's some worldbuilding to check up on for me. I'm sure there's an in-world explanation to expound upon here—or it's just "knight because protector, rebel because people's protector." That's not quite as compelling but it's understandable.

~

@bread-into-toast — Young Telepath (JUDGE PICK)

I like the classroom perspective that you've provided here. This student's bored in class, delving into the minds of their classmates and mouthing off, and the early-Jace comparisons are in full force. It's a great way to tie together simple trope-based worldbuilding in a slice-of-life manner. Why are we looking at random? Because the student's just poking around the minds in class, unstimulated but talented. All of your strengths are sincerely on display here, and I could write out an art description based on this illustration quite easily with the same impact. Good stuff.

I will say that this is a fun support card for limited, and that's the extent to which its power would show up anywhere—and that's totally fine. Double-draw is a great archetype, or at least it was in the couple places where I've played it the most (FDN and BRO). Perhaps there's something to be said for slowing down the game when choosing randomly at higher levels; I doubt that's an actual concern, but timers are timers. I think this card could've easily been a 2/3 because of the supporting role that its supposed to have, maybe to be a better blocker as needed, but that's small potatoes. This card was really great to see among the mix, and I'm looking forward to some wild and worldly choices from you.

~

@brookeuwo — Malamet Cairn (JUDGE PICK)

First things first: great flavor text here, short and simple worldbuilding. Secondly, the design sensibilities are pretty neat! Ixalan's ability to boost with exploration, equipment, and/or auras is a fine reason to play this card and even more so to want it on-curve. Even if you don't have as many things to boost its power, the strong lifelinking blocker can be a real savior in the later parts of the game. Green and white weren't the easiest colors to draft in LCI, I'll say that for sure. Whether or not this card would've saved the archetype, I dunno, but I enjoy the little twist on a defender that pairs well with the world in question.

I also like how it's a good topdeck because of those defensive capabilities. Maybe it doesn't necessarily get around the evasive creatures, but that hardly matters when you're using it mostly to get around full swings and the lot. That's the gist, and there's not a whole lot I feel I need to add that the card doesn't already say. It awakens when you put the power into it, and it's still a staunch defender even without that. I feel the will of Ixalan's world coming into play here as a quiet and ancient force to be reckoned with. So yeah, not bad!

~

@corporalotherbear — Kami of Togetherness

Oh, affinity, how we love thee... It's pretty fun how this card plays with itself, in the same way that a lot of the best affinity cards do. Getting bigger and better means that you're gonna pop off effectively just as much as you need to in limited, and there's the encouragement of multiples and/or spirit-based synergy that makes it pretty awesome. Honestly, I'm reminded a little bit of the MHX cards, although I understand that it's reasonable to have affinity as a one-off mechanic; there was a pseudo-affinity in NEO, I remember that one quite well.

Fair choice of PT also, because I can imagine the earliest you could get this card would be... Well, depends on the other cards in the set, but if there's some kind of other Spirit token generation then turn four or five would be reasonable, yeah? And with that you can have a solid body down. Good choice of the statline. It's definitely playing to my Kamigawa love, and I do appreciate that, even if the name feels just a touch less ethereal than I'd expect. Sensible, but maybe a little too grounded. I think that what I'm really curious about is whether or not the AD would be totally gorgeous or totally horrific. All depends on your relationship with the spirit world, I suppose?

~

@cthulhusaurusrex — Fetid Lurker (JUDGE PICK)

The first comparison that comes to mind is that of Tireless Tracker, whose first line is effectively the same. That said, I'd still want to play both of them in the deck that's asking for it, because they play into somewhat different spaces. Sacrificing your clues to the Tracker is a way to get your card advantage and beef on the board because of it, whereas this fish just wants to eat them up, a trade in resources. I like that choice of differences. Sometimes you want to just get your power up and swing in, and sometimes you need the draw—perhaps into the next land for the next clue.

Regardless, I can imagine this card as a multi-archetypal card that can still stand on its own in a draft. UB evasion, UG ramp, UR artifacts, UW card-advantage-control... Yeah! Don't fix what isn't broken. There's this general trope as well, flavor-wise, of river monsters living in sewers and marshes and swamps. Where does this one come from, I wonder? Probably a place with lots of artifacts to spare (a cousin of Gearseeker Serpent? Or a resident of Capenna?). That's a minor inquiry, though, because this card's definitely focused on power above other things. Slam dunk and/or hatedraft this card in limited, that's for sure.

~

@deg99 — Mishra's Agglomerate

In the submission, you mentioned niches and the fulfillment of a niche for a card like TSP's legendary Mishra. The questions that follow are a) whether or not that's a niche that necessarily needs to be filled, and b) whether or not this is the best application of the necessary mechanics. The obvious one is the "relentless" aspect, having any number with that name. Is the remainder of the plan just to beat down with Assembly-Workers, then? Besides Mishra having random complicated combos in EDH already, I'm not sold on a rare card as the best place for "relentless" in general. This is more of a meta issue with distribution, honestly, but I hope it's fairly evident why it's a little bit of a limited feelsbad to open a rare that plays best when you have multiple copies.

I also feel that, regardless of Mishra's possibilities, there are some easier ways to word this card for a similar effect and/or ways to make it less wordy. The middle two can be combined into a single activation that's similar to the Enduring cycle from DSK, e.g. "UBR, Exile another artifact card from your graveyard: Return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It's an artifact. (It's not a creature.)" As it stands, though, for this niche I think having a common/uncommon artifact could've helped with the start of this idea. It's a solid beater if you're going for Assembly jank, and I don't fault it there at all. Execution is the name of the game.

~

@dimestoretajic — Sythis' Presence

I'll start with the positive parts of this card's intentions, namely that it's a strong aura for limited and deserves its legendary potential. My second thought is me wanting to make a token copy of it somehow, and the kinds of awesome shenanigans that you can get away with because of it. The weird thing is that there are only a handful of legendary auras that have been printed...ever? It's actually kinda weird! This would be fun for Yenna, though, and other loops that you can do with multiple copies. I keep thinking that this card gives it lifelink, and maybe that could've usurped the first strike, but hey, that's minor tinkering.

The major and minor wording issues are the other part. When an Aura gives both a PT boost and abilities, the PT boost use "gets" and the abilities use "has." And with the return, I think modern templating could say "this card" instead of the name in the last ability, but I'm not entirely sure. It's the middle trigger that's egregious, though, because you gotta say "another Aura you control" and also specify where it's going into the graveyard from. Is this from anywhere? From the battlefield? Specificity really does matter here because otherwise, well, the rules just don't work with it, and also I can't totally guess the intention. Also, the "instead" is only necessary on replacement effects, "if an Aura would" etc.

~

@feyd-rautha-apologist — Dawn of Faceless Days

I'm almost positive that the draw trigger goes first, so let's shift that around. Let's follow that up with the question of what this card does, exactly. Right now, I know that there are the various creature-shifting combos that you can use with Arcane Adaptation and Leyline of Transformation, all that jazz. So why play this card over those, besides the cost and the draw, to transform a number of other cards? I'm wondering what kind of limited environment could use this, and I'm thinking about Lorwyn. There are a few funny cast triggers there, that's for sure, although the effect of the cards remains the same and might usually care about the creatures types of that archetype as-is.

In a limited format with an abundance of creature types, I can imagine that this card could serve as a glue between shenanigans. It's also asking a massive amount from the format in question to be able to have that amount of kindred cards. I think it just kind of hit me that this card effectively acts as a noncreature type-changer for the usual creature-only type-changing cards, and I can sense the niche there. Is that either too powerful or too narrow for what these effects are supposed to do? Why not change the creatures that you're probably gonna have more of to match the kindred stuff rather than this? But there are certainly combos I know I'm not seeing and interactions yet to exist. This card might be a little too ahead of the curve for me, if I'm being honest, and ultimately I say that positively. BTW, the name is a 10/10.

~

@helloijustreadyourpost — Greel, Genteel Goblin

I think that we can all agree on how this card works and how neat it is overall. I really appreciate this week's efforts, with this card and others, to have more succinct and slice-of-life storytelling. This goblin has a hat, other goblins take the hat, and he gets mad when his hat becomes taken. Boom, easy enough and funky enough that he could easily be someone's favorite card from limited and/or become someone's pet commander deck. Pass the hat around, everyone!

A limited deck that runs this card has the minor issue of needing at least one other goblin around in order to give Greel trample for the turn and/or to use this equipment at all if Greel leaves the battlefield. I think that's the inherent flaw, honestly, because without at least one other piece of equipment and/or another goblin, a lot falls apart here. But perhaps that's just something that's inherent to this card with the deckbuilding that you'd want for it, y'know? Limited is really the only place that it would be the most likely to not work. Sometimes a 3/3 with haste is worth it. The other small note is that the second line should definitely be a trigger. Feels really weird that it doesn't use the stack.

~

@horsecrash — Seven Earth-Shattering Strikes

Starting with the amazing name, I'm more confused than anything as to whether there's no flavor text to go with it. This seems like the perfect place, where I want to know so much more about the card than I do in this moment. Still, regardless of that, there's the push and the question of whether or not this card is at the kind of limited power level that's acceptable for multicolor. And the honest answer is that I don't know, but I don't think so. Not necessarily. The difference between this and a Dreadbore is pretty narrow. Is this the amount of damage that's needed in a specific imagined format? Is this the kind of multicolor power that you'd want?

I'm thinking of the top end right now for two mana, things like Scorching Shot. Unholy Heat has limitations, others have color restrictions on what they can hit... This feels like it goes too far into destructive territory, even with the way that the name leads us to understand it. I'm really torn here, because as much as I want this card to work with its presentation, I feel that it's just...off, numerically. Red burn's efficiency needs to have limitations even in multicolor, and black wants to do other things for this mana. This is quite a difficult card to talk about, but a welcome challenge still.

~

@hyde-the-toad-bard — Serial Driller

The weird thing is that I think this card would be better at home in EDH than limited or standard constructed. Maybe that's me just thinking of how impulse draws work, and/or the question of what Gruul-stompy wants for the longer games. Don't wanna hit something too big, don't wanna hit something you're not able to use in the moment. Hm! I think from a pure design perspective that this card's a real pain in the butt to have to deal with on the other side of the table but not so much that it's an insta-remove. I'd definitely play this in my Xenagos deck after a little bit of ramp, just so I'm guaranteed to hit the big drops.

There are a few shouts and murmurs with the name and the flavor, and I'm kinda on board there. I think that the flavor text is leaning into the faux-dramatic a little more than necessary, and "You never know where they'll strike next" does the job well enough with the implication that they're an aggressive miner. The "killer" to "driller" name feels like it could be a lot more gruesome than the mechanics are presenting here, in the sense that I would be expecting the drilling to be even worse than murderous plans—but no, we're just digging away. The tension/surprise is difficult to do on MTG cards; it's possible I'm posting my expectations on top of what's ostensibly a card that knows just how fun it is and I should stop being a spoilsport. All I know is that I'd slot this card in, so heck, the rest is opinion.

~

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Magic-Intrigued Corvid

Now, as a morally bankrupt Brago player on occasion, this card's an absolute delight with enough blinking effects, especially if you can make them happen more in your favor. The fact that you get to cast the cards that you exile even if they're not yours is pretty baller. There are always strange rules cases that come to mind, such as whether or not doubling the effect with Panharmonicon that somehow exiles multiple spells would make the LTB trigger cast one or two spells, but there are contingencies for that, I'm sure. We've been through Spell Quelling before, after all.

It's a really fun EDH card and a really fun limited top-end card. I think a five-mana 3/3 body would've been fine for modern power levels, considering the stage of the game in which that would be relevant, but that's a minor push and it's okay to err on the side of lower power rather than higher power. Design-wise, I think this is one of the coolest ones I've seen from you, well thought-out and quite cute. The name could use a little bit more mysticism, or at lease some other kind of adjective. Even "Curious" could do some work here, y'know? But names are sometimes the hardest parts of these things. Just like exiling an opponent's one-sided boardwipe...

~

@lanabutnotdelray — Excruciating Interrogation

When thinking about limited formats in which -1/-1 counters appear, there's the question of how they're going to be used, what they combo with, how they affect your side vs. an opponent's side. The ability to put a -1/-1 counter on whatever your want every turn can be beneficial for wearing something down. It's also worth considering the cards that have -1/-1 counters that they want to get rid of, like Grim Poppet or Channeler Initiate. I'm curious if the intent was more to put it on your own stuff or to put it on your opponent's cards and get the benefit? It's a real pain with defenders and the like, but all the same. I'm really curious about that part.

Flavorfully, though, it would make more sense to put it on something that you don't control. Extra card advantage is the side benefit, and I suppose that uncommon can get the extra push from this card. Could encourage some chump-blocking, definitely speeds up the game. I wonder what the environment would be to allow for such a card, because there are times and places where the draw is just advantage on top of advantage, and others where it's a slow burn down. There were some murmurings about this card, and I think I'm curious enough about it to give it a thumbs-up overall. The flavor text certainly scans well, although I'm not sold on what it actually means? Why wouldn't the prisoner just keep screaming, I suppose. I might just not be parsing.

~

@melancholia-ennui — Channel the Scarlands

The thing that stands out to me first and foremost is the use of the UB property as a mechanical name here. It feels strange to me, but perhaps not to the people who enjoyed that sort of thing. Perhaps. If this set isn't a callback to Fallout itself, then that deliberate choice lands more awkwardly than not, all things considered, and IIRC this is meant to be a different U-within world. So... I don't know, I'm not sure about this concept in a standard set in general. Milling works well in Commander because of the 99 cards; in a draftable format where practically all of your cards matter, having a milling mechanic as a main aspect of the set doesn't seem like the best choice.

Conceptually, for Commander, I would've removed all the ability-things you put on here and just gone with the whole rad counter shenanigans as-is. Without that, I don't personally believe that this is the best place for rad counters in general. Multiplayer mechanics are often overpowered in 1v1 formats, see Monarch and Undercity. Having a set with a major theme of rad counters could be relatively balanced if the entire set was worked like the sets that used poison/toxic. Big 'if' there. Even then, rad counters are majorly more difficult to remember rules-wise than poison. There are just too many caveats to make this work in the way it needs to, I'm afraid.

~

@piccadilly-blue — Pontiff's Alms

—205.4i Any permanent with the supertype "link" is a link permanent. Any link permanents are subject to the rules regarding link permanents (see rule 704.5z). —704.5z If a player controls a link permanent, any player may choose another permanent they control and link it to that permanent as a sorcery. This is a special action and does not use the stack. A player may unlink a permanent they control from a link permanent as a sorcery. This is a special action and does not use the stack. The link and unlink actions may only be performed once per turn per link permanent. A permanent can only be linked to one link permanent at a time, and a link permanent can only be linked to one permanent per player at a time. A permanent cannot be linked to itself. If, somehow, a permanent would become linked to itself, the link fails to form. —704.5aa A link permanent is considered "fully linked" when each player controls a permanent linked to it. —704.5ab Link permanents linked to each other form a chain. A chain has a number of links equal to the number of link permanents in that chain. Multiple separate chains may exist.

You are a mad person and I highly respect that. Firstly, unlinking should probably be something you add as reminder text. Secondly... I think that this card is garnering a lot of respect from me, but what the heck do I actually do with this? Maybe I can just leave this card on a miniature pedestal as a reminder of what MTG's future could be, but maybe I'll do a little bit of theorizing.

Battle representation. Multiple link enchantments can be really strange if there are different links on the battlefield, but that's fine. As a visual representation, what about when a permanent has auras and equipment attached to it, but that aren't linked to an enchantment, or vice-versa? There are some pragmatic weirdnesses, but I'm imagining on a digital client you could have little red strings of energy that chain them together. Having "Link" as a supertype is pretty neat, too, although I've been hanging around too many YGO players not to have an unconscious connection. All the same, though: three life for the alms, that's a real clock. Not the wildest clock in the world, but a clock all the same. I think this might last one turn, honestly. You link something up probably as soon as you play it, and  an opponent sacrifices a permanent (basically) to not have that happen again. I... Huh. Sounding it out, that doesn't sound that powerful all things considered. I think I'd like to have seen a more perpetual linkage, perhaps? The thing that I'm imagining the most of, as a last thought, are links on links on links, giant chains of cards. What a nightmare, but what a visual into the world of possibility.

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@real-aspen-hours — Gnaw from Within

With the modern wording, "this" should at least be "this enchantment" or "this permanent," right? Nine Lives Familiar and all. Feels weird without that stuff... Anyway. I think the art direction is pretty great, and I saw it got some attention by word of mouth. Totally reasonable there, it's a nasty time for everyone involved. Mechanically AND flavorfully, though, why is this an enchantment? Something like Stab Wound represents the grievous injury, bleeding out over time, and it's the wound that's causing the life loss. This card feels like it should've been conceived as a removal spell similar to Stolen by the Fae, as a similar example. It works best as a kill spell and I can't see a pragmatic reason for it being an enchantment.

I'd definitely play with it as either, though, although I'd only use it as a kill spell if it was released as an enchantment. Getting to kill something and get a bunch of tokens is usually a safe place to be if you're going to remove what you want to remove. In a rat-themed strategy, or any wide black one where you're going to want fodder and/or to go wide, the late-game benefits of this card can't be overstated. Maybe having guys that can't block is a little bit of a rough spot, but what're you gonna do, right? It's the next turn that's gonna blow them out of the water, and into a dark alleyway. 

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@reaperfromtheabyss — Shapeling Artisan (JUDGE PICK)

I can say for sure that some interesting choices were made here. Having checked for precedent, I don't believe that "changing" counters is something that the rules really allow as such. I think this could be an activated ability you can do at sorcery speed once a turn, removing a counter as a cost to put a counter on something else. That said, it's more about the weird notions that this card allows for. The absolute floor is that you have a 4/4 that can graft itself onto other creatures you control as they enter, but shifting things around to give your current hand extra abilities when the creatures enter is a really neat idea.

Playing into the UG +1/+1 counter space allows for some strange things to happen, and while I'd argue that Evolve was the best iteration of Simic's mechanics as it plays in that space, this is a breath of fresh, squiddy air. I like the way that this card works conceptually a lot, even if that upkeep trigger isn't something that's currently supported to the best of my knowledge. You know how the humble octopus will sometimes remove its arms in various circumstances? I can imagine this creature taking a limb and just hucking it at an ally as it transforms into a grafted addendum to their body. Huh! I wonder how the 200X Simic would feel about ability counters these days. I'm actually really glad that you're tapping into that, assuming this is a Simic-themed design at all. If not, it's evolved into one.

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@sparkyyoungupstart — Salvaging Phalange

This card feels like it's trying to tap into some Horizons-y territory, and I'm really trying to meet it halfway here. Foraging feels a little odd here when there's no specific Food feeling here, and I wouldn't expect this thing to necessarily be a squirrel skeleton, but... Is the Swarm here from the Golgari? I assume so, because my other consideration would be Grist's swarm, and that's a whole other kettle of bugs. My point about the flavor is that it doesn't mesh with the presentation, and foraging with Food wouldn't actually do anything to beef the power and toughness, so the question is why not have a direct mechanical tie-in with something like Escape?

Even though the mechanical aspect is powerful as well, I get the sense that it's looking to turn the exile zone into essentially a second graveyard as far as the numbers go. No matter what plane you're on, the intended gameplay/flavor intersection of these sorts of cards should be tied to the graveyard for play balance reasons. The exile zone has pragmatically no interaction, and I don't feel that that's a gameplay style (especially for these colors) that should be pursued. Caring about the graveyard as a resource matters for gameplay balance. The intent is noble, but the establishment of BG graveyard resources is established for a reason.

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@tanknspank — Ovalchase Mechanic & Reliable Roadster

In general, unless it's specifically asked for we do ask that you submit only one card for the purposes of intent/balance. That said, this was an open-ended contest, so I get the appeal, and I also get the general story that's taking place here—the mechanic beefs the dragster, the dragster swings in. Colorless partners does open up a few possibilities for limited, but that said I never drafted Battlebond, so what would I know about that specifically? The independence of each piece makes the individual possibilities open, which is a fair thing to keep in mind, while also begging the question: why partner?

The inherent problem is that partnering these cards doesn't actually add anything to the synergy that would inherently be found in a limited environment. Playing these cards together would be awesome! So, you just hope to draft both of them, and that's that. All that partner does is tutor up that synergy and make limited slightly less randomized. Is that necessarily fun? Is that what a standard limited environment necessarily needs? I'd argue: absolutely not. Partners in Battlebond were designed with a hyper-specific draft strategy in mind that could reward a number of cross-color interactions between players on a team. And otherwise... I'm just not sold yet, honestly.

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@xenobladexfan — Gesserith, Master of Shields

MSE is great for a number of things. One of the things that it's not necessarily good for is reminder text stacking. Things got a wee bit hard to parse in there, eh? I'm teasing a little bit because otherwise, well... Actually, jeez, looking more, there's a lot of text on this one; I feel the flavor text could've been sacrificed for legibility. That's just what happens when you combine abilities like this, right? I feel I'm being harsh: to be clear, I like the card overall. It's a decent one with some strong limited capabilities, definitely a snap-up for the archetype and a card you'd hope to draw in basically any situation.

There's a little futzing to make it absolutely perfect, though. The wording in the trigger feels a little off, but that's just because of the wording of bolster. Imagine if the attack/block (maybe when it enters as well?) gave the bolster, and there was another line that whenever you put a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control, if it doesn't have a shield counter, it gets a shield counter? I did a mockup and it's about the same amount of text. What I'm trying to say is that there are a couple minor tweaks to get yourself really up to a great legend, and the choice to give shield counters makes this a limited bomb for sure. Those things were a real pain in SNC... But hey, it's a flavor fit, and good stuff overall.

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@yd12k — Nifah, Skysurfing Amateur (JUDGE PICK)

It feels good and probably plays great, so that's a good start. I feel that there were a few cards this week that blended lots of counter types—is that where we're at now as designers? I'm not complaining, I'm just more fascinated that there's that space. I was NOT a fan of ability counters when they premiered, but I've come around on them as a complex tool. Nifah certainly likes them, and I think this space wants to play into some synergies that are...different? Very different. I'd love to see Ride the Horizon cast after I make a Spider Spawning play in limited, for example. Really gross but in the fun way.

What world is Nifah soaring through, too? Let's put the mechanics on the back seat for just a second, because there's a bit of joyous worldbuilding that makes me want to know more about this character and where they're coming from. The simplicity feels nice. Again, that seems to be a running theme through a lot of these cards, but it goes to show the power of consistency. Exploration and exuberance is a combination that creates uplifting intrigue. Back to mechanics! The support for exploration might be a little tight here, but in all the Ixalan sets where it was prevalent it also had some weird buildy-aroundy feels, so I'll give that a bit of a pass. I do love exploration as a mechanic, too, and I like how this card gives that evasive necessity to the grounded feel of UG explore as a draft archetype that often felt missing.

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@yourrightfulking — Fungus-Feeder Ants

I do distinctly remember helping you out with this one in the workshop, your highness. And how am I to judge it now that I helped sculpt each of these six golden legs? I dunno. I mean, obviously I can't be 100% impartial here. Yeah? Let's talk instead about the general polish and overall stuffitude with this card. It's...a weird set that has a double-pip common with no generic mana attached to it, but it's not impossible, I suppose. There were power concerns, I remember that... Eh, 1G could've been fine on second thought. 

What if you were able to get back any land card, not just one that been milled this way? Maybe that would necessitate a bigger cycling cost, or maybe a rarity up because it's a generic way to get some mana fixing, but whatever, there are lots of minor things. This card plays into the archetype well enough and there's nothing inherently wrong with it that a number couldn't fix. If you're not gonna add cycling reminder text, though, you might as well add some flavor text; right now the card's about as dry as the sawdust that the ants just ate through. Heyo! But in all seriousness, it's got this jungle-potential that could've been upped just a teensy bit.

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Time to go back to sleep <3 Be well, nerds one and all. @abelzumi