#this has been so fun to organize and i'll make a proper post about it later once more fics have been submitted but!! so proud of everyone

[johnslittlespoon]

Only You Can Cool My Desire

[WC: 6K | Gale Cleven/John Egan, Tough And Sweet AU, Summer, Heatwaves, Ice Play, Blow Jobs, Light Dom/Sub, Teasing, Orgasm Delay]

“Gale,” John gets out, wriggling where he’s trapped beneath Gale’s arms. “I’m cooled down, please, can you–”

His plea breaks off into a curse when Gale lets the ice cube in his palm slide onto John’s stomach, watching as it settles in the dip of his belly button, John’s skin so fever–hot that Gale can immediately see the smallest pool of water beginning to form.

“You’ve been whining about being hot all week,” Gale says, pressing his lips to John’s thigh, feeling the muscle twitch at his touch. “I’m just helpin’ you out.”

[AO3 LINK]

[tinydefector]

Can we get a first contact au with Rodimus becoming increasingly possessive towards the human the lost light found.

My Human

Rodimus x Human First contact AU

Word count: 1.6k

Warnings: none

Rodimus masterlist

Request are open, please go to pinned post to read rules.

Rules and Masterlist

Had a lot of fun writing this. I may have written him as more Protective Possessions than anything else, but all up, I'm very happy with how this turned out. But I've seen so where the human is distressed by Possesive Rodimus in First contact Aus so I wanted to go with them being just as distressed about being taken away from him.

________

Rodimus hated this, he hated being away from his little human. He paces back and forth in front of medlab, at this rate he would wear marks into the floor, he regretted that his little friend had been found out. It had resulted in Ratchet and Ultra Magnus taking them from his care. It had now been nearly three cycles since they had been taken from him and he didn't like when others were in charge of their care. 

Ratchet and Ultra Magnus believed he wasn't skilled enough to care for them. Yes there was a language barrier between them but they had been working on it with hand signals, nods and head shakes along with visual items. He was gentle with them, he did his best to make them comfortable and they didn't set off any signs that they felt uncomfortable or upset with him. 

Rodimus keeps his energy field taut with restraint, his optics flick to the door as he faces Ratchet, though his unrest is clear. "Look, I know you and Magnus think I'm not 'responsible' enough or whatever, but that's my little human! I've been taking good care of them since picking them up, You can't just keep me away from them!." His plating flares briefly. " you both swoop in, say I'm not 'qualified,' and carry them off for your tests and whatnot. Please just let me see them!" Rodimus remains poised, despite his clear frustration he tries to not let it show.

Ratchet isn't impressed by the situation, Rodimus had hidden the human for who knows how long before they found out about them and it was due to the fact Swerve had seen the human with Rodimus late one cycle. The medic had a hard time trusting Rodimus to be responsible for such a fragile being. 

The smaller beings' eyes light up the moment they see Rodimus, a small collection of thrills and vocal chirps falling from them as they see the Speedster finally being let into medical, they stand quickly moving to the edge of the table calling out to him eagerly.  

Ratchet huffs in exasperation as the human calls out so eagerly for the red mech. He grudgingly has to admit their attachment seems genuine. But that doesn't absolve proper procedure. Rodimus had withheld information, hidden an organic, he was lucky that they were in good health otherwise Ratchet wouldn't have let him within the radius of the lab. 

"Alright, alright, calm down, both of you." Ratchet levels a stern glare between them. "I'm letting you see each other as a trial, Rodimus. One slip-up and they go right back to my care, and you do not get to see them at all. got it?" 

Rodimus nods eagerly, and Ratchet steps aside with reluctance. The human chirps happily as he swiftly moves closer to the table they are stood on. "Be gentle, and watch your energy, you're lucky you haven't caused any medical problems" Ratchet grumbles. But his rebuke as he reads over the few tests he had run over them. 

Rodimus beams down at his human. "Missed you too. Don't listen to Ratch', okay? I'll always keep you safe." He directs the latter at Ratchet. The medic huffs but doesn't disagree. Seeing the human's contentment, maybe Rodimus has earned his chance after all. He'd be keeping a close optic on the two.

The human almost flings themself at Rodimus snuggling against his plating, had it been any other Mech their plating would have been cold but Rodimus ran hot due to his Outlier ability and they seemed to swarm to him for the heat. Their arms curl around his shoulder plating little thrills leaving them in delight to see him after not being able to see him for days now.

Eventually they pull away hands moving quickly as more noises leave them, trying to ask him questions he can't understand, giving a rather rude gesture towards Ratchet as they voice their displeasure over being stuck here. Ratchet isn't particularly happy but given the circumstances it was better than the human needing multiple injections and a drip. 

Rodimus chuckles at the rude gesture aimed at Ratchet. "Eheh, I'll let that one slide since I know he's been keeping you against your will." He hums softly while pulling them back into a hug which they eagerly accept. "But play nice," Rodimus whispers, directing a pointed look at Ratchet. "Don't want Ratch' banning me from visits, y'know?" 

Rodimus strokes their back gently, happy to finally have them back even if it was only for a little, he didn't like it but he would fight if it came down to that so they didn't have to stay in the Medlab. 

It's only when Ultra Magnus walks into the room does the human become rather vocal, seeming to scowl in displeasure, another flurry of noise coming from them as they clinging to Rodimus expecting the larger mech to take them again.

 After all this was a massive violation of ship conduct having a human on board and Rodimus had hidden them for who knows how long. Rodimus himself was still rather angry over the separation for cycles. Magnus' field bleeds disapproval as he notes the organics ferocity. " Rodimus, your failure to disclose finding an intelligent alien has compromised ship safety. That you concealed them speaks poorly of your leadership. Do you have any idea what could have happened if it was another species, think of the Viruses, and other contamination you could have brought onto this ship!"

Rodimus' plating flares indignantly. "They were scared! I was looking after them, making sure they had everything they needed, rather than dragging them in here for pit knows what kind of tests and dragged me to the brig!" 

"Enough, both of you!" Ratchet interjects sternly. "Arguing will solve nothing. Your disapproval is clear, Magnus, but separating them now could cause harm. For their sake, I advise they remain in Rodimus' care, But they are to be brought in Every Luna Cycle for check ups, do I make myself clear captain?."

Magnus' optics narrow, he goes to argue about the situation, But the sound of heavy foot fall makes them tense as Megatron stalks in, red optics lingering on the group. The co-captain looks to Rodimus with a raised brow before his optics flicker to the human in his arms. "What is the issue here?" He finally asked. Rodimus' fields blast protectiveness as Megatron's gaze settles on the human clinging to him. "There's no issue, Megatron. Just everyone freaking out that I took in a stray. As if providing refuge is a crime." 

Magnus stiffens. "Harbouring an unknown organism without informing command put the whole ship at risk. Repercussions must follow regulations."

Ratchet shoots him a glare. "Perhaps. But separating them now risks worse harm." He faces Megatron decisively. Megatron considers it thoughtfully. While Rodimus broke protocol. 

" they remain in Rodimus' care. But you will face consequences, Rodimus, for keeping them hidden, you should have come to one of us over this when you found them." His gaze levels on Magnus, daring dissent. Magnus' field churns discontent but he nods curtly. Rodimus flashes Megatron a covert grateful look. “Look I'm sorry I didn't tell anyone but I knew this was how Magnus was going to react, they needed help and I wasn't just going to leave them” 

The group continued talking about how things would proceed from there. It's only after the medical check is finished are the two finally allowed to leave, the human clinging to Rodimus as he walks with them. It catches many mechs, some doing double takes and others just blatantly staring at the human shocked over the strange organic. Rodimus did his best to shield the human from prying optics as he strode briskly down the corridor. He didn't want to deal with the rest of the mechs, or overstimulate his companion. 

"It's alright,” he murmured soothingly. "Just ignore ee. They're not used to fleshies is all." He shot a warning glare at Swerve as the mini rolled by curiously. Relief washes over him as they reach his hab suite, Rodimus shut and locked the door behind them. "Whew, finally some peace! Nobody gonna bother us here, promise." 

He settled gently on his berth, cradling the human close. "I know it's all weird and scary dealing with bots as big as mechs. But you're safe with me" Rodimus' field radiated comfort as he chatted to help them relax, he knew full well they didn't understand him, but he knew the rumbles and vibrations from his chassis would calm them. He was careful not to let his distaste for how the others acted show - he knew he had messed up but it was worth it. 

They let out a soft noise as he finally laid down on his berth, it brought him comfort knowing he finally had them back safely. The human snuggles in to his plating, a hand coming up to his faceplate as they check him over as if he had been hurt. Rodimus' optics crinkled warmly at the human's gentle inspection of his faceplates. "Aww, you're checking me over now, huh? Making sure grumpy Ratch' didn't do anything to me?" 

He nuzzled their tiny hand affectionately with the tip of his nasal ridge. Primus, they were so tiny and fragile, but their caring touch warmed his spark. "Don't you worry about me, little bit. I'm tough, it'll take more than their glares to take me down." Rodimus chuckled softly. 

Turning serious, he added, "But it means a lot that you care. I'm here for you too." He let out a soft noise as they curl up against him, happy to finally have him back, it makes a smile etch into his lips as he covers them with one of his servos to make sure they don't fall off his chassis. “get some rest littlespark” he hums softly. 

_______

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[bryce-bucher]

Midwest Lost Post #5

Stepfather:

For the past month I've been pretty busy, so I've mainly just been focusing on working on Midwest Lost whenever I have a chance. In this time I finally got the character model for the stepfather mostly complete and in the game. In this fight he is "unwinding" after work so he's ditched his pants and put on a bathrobe, but he was too dejected to change out of his work shirt. He's an abusive guy with a messy life, and he often takes his anger out on whoever he thinks he can have power over. Unlucky for the protagonist, this often means he's the target of his rage. Luckily for the protagonist, he has a big ass sword.

The Face:

For a while now I've been pretty concerned on how I am going to handle face textures in this game. I need the characters to be expressive for the various cinematics and for certain emotional beats to hit properly, but creating proper detailed faces is a bit of a wild west territory for me. Because of this, I decided to try an experiment. Recently I've been trying to learn how to paint properly using a VR painting tool called Vermillion, It's proven to be a really powerful and relaxing way to paint, so I was wondering if it would be feasible for me to paint character textures in it. At my current skill level I honestly thought it wouldn't work out at all, but surprisingly it did!

As you can see here, I spent a good 4-5 hours painting this face texture in VR. It looked pretty horrible until like the last 40 minutes of the process or so. I guess that's how its supposed to go, but it really surprised me that it came together at all.

After I got that base texture completed, I exported it and touched it up a bit to better fit the model. I then added a pair of eyes and eyebrows on top of the texture in Affinity Photo. They are a lot more cartoony / simplistic than the base texture so that I can change them out and create new expressions easily. I was honestly unsure if that would clash too hard with the painted face, but I think it looks pretty good. This was a really fun process, and It's got me excited for the amount of opportunities it has afforded me. Character creation is my favorite, but until now I really never thought I'd be able to paint the more detailed organic aspects of certain characters / animals. Oh yeah I also painted his knees in the same way lol, but I think going into detail about that would be redundant.

Heavy Attacks:

The last major thing I did recently was finally implement some heavy attacks. Rather than have separate inputs for light and heavy attacks, the attack button causes a light or heavy attack to occur based on whether or not you are currently holding the stance/strafe button. The heavy attacks I decided on are meant to be able to close in a considerable gap between you and the enemy, so that you can get in there more easily after slowly strafing around. Alternatively, you can just use heavy attacks whenever as long as you just press the strafe and attack buttons at the same time, so really they are for whenever you feel as though you can afford the wind up and cooldown of the animations. But yeah, as you can see in the gif above, the heavy attacks currently take the form of a two swing combo where you can lunge forward with the sword pointing outwards and then follow it up by swinging it back over your head and slamming it down. I think they are pretty satisfying to use as of now, but I might consider extending the combo in the future.

Conclusion:

That is all 4 today. I really want to get more work done on all of these games. I'm really tired of being stuck in the same debug scene in all of them. Hopefully this year I can dedicate more time to all this, and maybe I can make a second scene for one of them lol. Next time I post one of these it will probably be midwest lost again, but if not I'll be working on J(a)SON next. A big part of me being busy this month is that I'm actually attending GDC alongside Quinn K. If any of u mutuals out there want to meetup at GDC lmk.

[averageclawcodeenjoyer]

Alright so as far as introductions go, I guess I should probably make one before I get too far into this.

HERES MY ABOUT ME POST!

My name's Leonardo, and you can call me any version of that that you want (Leo, Leon, Leonard, Nardo[my favorite], either way, it's all the same to me.) My pronouns are He/Him. I am an artist, author, animator, and a DEDICATED CLAWCODE ENTHUSIST (Hence the name)

I am also VERY autistic and don't get tone a lot, so tone tags are very important to me, especially when there's joking or sarcasm involved.

Ahem.

I know the Spiderverse Fandom isn't particularly alive (SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP) but I will try to post often, even if it's just a shitpost here and there. I really want to help feed into the ClawCode brain rot since the content for these two is SEVERELY FUCKING LACKING. So. If you have requests for things, I will probably end up doing them! My asks are always open, and I'd love to hear from anybody. I don't have any friends that love them the way that I do 😔😔

I have not had Tumblr before! Which is a little insane, so I'm new to all of this and learning how everything works. Please forgive me if I don't know the proper etiquette on this app lmao. My friend has been guiding me through all of this and told me to make an About Me post, so that's what I'm doing.

Here are some tags that will frequent my posts!

Yapping Hour - Will either be used for headcanons, or short stories/ideas/other ClawCode related crap. It's just going to be a general tag that will probably go on most of my posts from here on out.

Slur Gallery - Will be of the art I post of them, be it ship art or other :3 because everybody deserves a gallery of slurs to look at. AND JUST LOOK AT THEM!

Earworm - Is the tag I'll use when there's music involved, like songs that remind me of them (and the heavy analysis that goes with it **COMING SOON**), or animatics that I'm working on, or just anything that has to do with a song. Edits, artworks, the whole shebang.

Talkaholic - This will ALSO be used for mini stories/facfics, but more often than the yapping hour. So if you wanna read my writing of them that's what you can find it under.

Offline - will be under posts like these, where it isn't directly related to anything, just random blocks of text or other art that I feel like posting.

Oil And Water - THIS tag will be about the fanfic I am currently (excruciatingly slowly) writing! It doesn't have a happy ending and is meant to be a HEAVY angst story, like hurt/no comfort or very little comfort. I have one chapter out currently but will be working on more soon (and will make a separate post about it! But I will link it here as well. MOTIVATE ME TO WRITE IT /HJ)

Prowler Party - Is what I'll put on ALL of my posts as an extra way to help find me if one so desires d=(^o^)=b

OOC - On the chance that I might make something intentionally out of character, I will put this beneath it. I know a lot of people don't like mischaracterization, or incorrect portrayal of a character, but sometimes it's really fun to write, so I will be including that was well.

I think that's all that I can think of right now (I'm running off of an hour and 40 minutes sleep), but things may change or be edited in the future. But for now, I'll be signing off.

Shipwrecked - THIS WILL BE ABOUT MY SELKIE/SIREN AU BECAUSE IM ACTUALLY NOT OKAY ABOUT IT AND NEED TO SHARE MY INSANITY

HELLO AND THANK YOU TO THE WARM WELCOME I'VE RECIEVED!!

MORE COMIGN SOON

[vodkacheesefries]

Thought it would be fun to do an intro post for each of the three households I'll be rotating through in my historic sims file. Also told my buddy @schitzophrenicrainbows I would make one of these. It'll also help me keep things organized as I play the challenge since I'm committing details to writing.

Up first and beneath the cut, we have a little history dump and our Gladiators.

Gladiators initially started out as poorer people and slaves who were inscribed to fight and train in the gladiator schools, Ludus Magnus. Over time as people began to see the fame and honor that could be won in the arena, though it was more rare, people did start to voluntarily join these gladiator schools.

Due to the popularity of gladiator fights, and how pricey it got to train and house them, not every single gladiator fight was to the death for its contestants. (For the purpose of Finn's story/challenge rules, his fights will be.)

There's debate whether the infamous "thumbs down" actually meant the opponent HAD to die or not. It could have just meant they were disgraced and couldn't compete anymore, but I can't find definitive answers one way or the other, and the opinions I found on this often contradicted each other. (I could probably text my sister with three degrees all about ancient to medieval Italian/Roman history, but how do I explain to her I need to know for my Sims game lmaooo) All that said, gladiators often didn't live past their mid-twenties given the hazards of the job.

Gladiators were also sex symbols (do yourself a favor and look up ancient Roman graffiti. Humans are the same now as they were then lmao). Idk how much that'll play into my game but Finn does have to find a partner and have kids so the legacy continues but we'll get there when we get there.

Rana

Rana is the gladiator who has been at the Ludus Magna the longest. Her traits: Creative, Self Assured, Loyal.

She came from a wealthy merchant family, but the family business didn't interest her much. She left home when she was young to find herself and ended up finding the arena. She picked up sword fighting quickly and proved her aptitude for not only fighting, but teaching others to fight as well. These days she only competes occasionally, as she has proven herself invaluable in creating more gladiators.

She's hitting a point where the losses of her pupils, and more importantly friends, are starting to weigh on her. She likely isn't going to just be allowed to retire, though, so she has to figure something else out.

Apollo

Apollo named himself after a Greek God because he thinks he's hilarious. (This is debatable if you ask anyone who has spoken with him for more than five minutes.) He ended up at the Ludus Magnus due to his sense of humor; turns out a Senator doesn't like it when you make jokes about their philosophical ideas, even if they are stupid.

He doesn't enjoy the gladiator lifestyle much if he's being honest, and is counting down the days until his "voluntary" contract with the school is over so he can use what money he's won and travel the world like he's always wanted to. His self absorption is part him being young, and part it being a front for the fear he has of not living out his dreams and he wears it like a protective front. His friends know better, though.

(He also thinks Spartacus is cute, but he's certain Spartacus is going to stay a gladiator till he dies and that doesn't work with what he wants in the long run.)

His traits are: Loves the Outdoors, Self Absorbed, and Outgoing.

Spartacus

Disclaimer: I did not make Spartacus lmao. I was hitting create-a-sim burnout so I hit up the gallery to find someone else's Roman themed sim. Although I did make some minor changes to his wardrobe, added scars and swapped out a couple of his traits, which are: Athletic, Proper, Loner. I ended up keeping his name because while it's on the nose for a gladiator, it fits.

Spartacus is a former member of the Roman Legionnaires. He was released from his service due to an injury he sustained abroad. Once he had healed, he found civilian life to be difficult to adjust to, so he signed a contract with the Ludus Magnus. He's here for a good time, not a long time.

But lately, he's been spending more time with Apollo, and he's starting to change his mind. But surely someone as handsome as Apollo wouldn't be interested in someone who'd rather spend his time meditating than socializing at a party...

Finn

Finn's traits are: Athletic, Loyal, Ambitious

Finn knew the risks he was taking when he killed Antonius, but he doesn't regret it. He's now plotting his escape, and if his new found friends can survive, he'll bring them with him if they like. He really just wants to get back to Britain to what's left of his family and help them take back what is rightfully theirs and drive the Romans out.

By challenge rules, he has 10 fights to get through first. I also have to receive a silver medal or higher on at least 50 events, and I'll probably use his fights to accomplish at least 10 of those. (I've done six so far).

Will probably go over Laelius' household next along with the parts of the challenge they'll be completing, followed by his daughter's. Who I don't think I've posted so far.

Other households:

The Emperor's Family

The Frugi Household

[fox0war]

Okay pspsps come one come all I finally m going to make a proper intro for some of my cerifikn characters so y'all can meet them!! ------------ Also please consider joining the group! It's an ARPG (Art Role Playing Game) with several species, easy to aquire MYOs, a Semi-Open species for any and all newbies, and great community! Plus various other things I love! It is 16+ to join though so keep that in mind ------------ Anyways, now that we're done with that lil bit, are you ready to meet my lil cast? ;D (all refs here will be the most recent as of posting! Some may need to be updated in the future do to lore or just being outdated lol)

First off: My first character! It feels only appropriate to shine a light on her! Say a proper hello to Moss! She is a Smog-Imp! A type of Abyss demon which is also a very large single cell organism! She, in particular, is a 'Tundra' form one! Which means she's quite fluffy, has teeth on her mask (the bird skull looking thing), and unlike other Smog-Imps can consume meat! Though, she tends to stick to the standard plant diet anyway. She's also a serial adopter! She has much too many kids for me to list ATM but who knows, maybe she could adopt you too!

She's also in a relationship with the mysterious NPC named Vlad! Who while technically an NPC, is also a character owned by @pikku-peruna! A good friend of mine who is also the group's owner! (Say a friendly hello to them for me!) Moss was gotten through a 2021 MYO event! She's one of my most used characters :D ------------ Now you all, if you've been following me, have met Pho'Bous before via his stories! And while his ref is somewhat out of date, he is also quite darling to me! Also gained through that 2021 MYO event (Which is what spurred me to join in the first place, fun fact!) it took me ages to get his design down on paper (or well, screen?) in a way I enjoyed! His design only being fully settled a year and a few months later! Fun fact, this sad little man was originally going to be a dragon themed guitar player, but I like this sad little we cat way better XD

He is also one of my most used characters! If that wasn't already evident in how many posts I've made writing stories for him lol. He's currently on track to become a necromancer but shhh.. nobody tell him that <3 ------------ Ah yes a more recent one! Pri'tas was designed in 2023 as part of one of the group's design challenges! (Yet another free way to gain characters) Blessed with all of the "Master's Traits", mysterious features gained from an even more mysterious and unknown "Master". Pri'tas, himself, never met him, the Master just owed his parents a favor, but Pri'tas is now very dedicated to him. The Master didn't know what he was signing up for I guess, eh?

The government is currently looking for him too, no not because of all the murder, silly! But because having all of the Master's traits gives you mysterious powers, powers that they want to research. So uh, maybe don't tell anyone you saw him here, k'ay? (; ------------ I have tons of other characters too! Such as a traveling trader, a harpy-like Smog-Imp trying to escape the same cult Pho'Bous loves so very much, and did I mention the several demigods? Well, I have those too! Feel free to ask about them or any of these characters! but the best place to ask is in the group, where I post about all my characters much more often! ------------ One more time, credit to @pikku-peruna! Owner of the group and species here! Go say hi to her for me <3 (And respect their pronouns or else I'll punt you)

[pythonscrypt]

my favorite mcc moments i have watched live, from season 2

so, in honour of season 2 of mcc finally coming to an end, i really wanted to make a post highlighting some of my favorite moments i've seen live since i started watching in mcc 17. i love this silly block game tournament, i love tuning into it every month and cheering on my favorite players and teams, i love watching my favorite games, and i'm grateful for all the terrific players who put on such great performances and of course noxcrew for creating this whole event and scott for organizing it. so, without waffling about too much, here's some moments i watched live in mcc season 2 that made me absolutely lose my mind:

(note: split into two parts because otherwise it would be very long)

my first live mcc + first winner's pov: mcc 17 orange ocelots (false, grian, sb, pete)

orange17 was my first full live pov and my proper gateway into mcc and i'll never forget just how incredibly lucky i am for that - it's like if someone's first live mcc was pink22 and seeing the captain win. from start to finish it was just an epic, cinematic experience with all of them hitting homeruns on every single game while being extremely supportive of each other and having a really good time themselves. and this couldn't be better highlighted by how, with bated breath, they encouraged grian during his final 1v3 during dodgebolt. really such a fantastic team with an incredible ending that i think will go down as one of the most memorable teams of season 2. it's also through watching this team that i found out about pete, and he's since become my most watched streamer so i'm always gonna appreciate that. if i had to highlight further specific moments from them, i'd say grian's sky battle and their whole entire buildmart are pretty damn iconic

my second live winner's pov: mcc 26 violet vampires (fruit, oli, shelby, phil)

i haven't watched fruit live in mcc very much, but i decided to this time because i just really loved this team from the start and thought it was super fun. this was a really, really fun team with excellent vibes, that was really funny, and that also played competitively and put up an excellent performance. they just worked so well together - there were so many funny convos they had in the lobbies in between games. and that's not to mention that they, particularly oli, came prepared for the event, with all the optimal strats down. when it came down to it in dodgebolt, they popped all the way off: oli had the most insane anime moment in the final round when he stared down hbomb as he shot, then immediately took him out in one shot. fruit did so well with his shooting and dodging (after doing some dodgebolt practice beforehand with zeuz), and finally WON. after five losses over a course of two years! shelby also finally won again after 2.5 years! it was such a long awaited, well deserved win and i'm so happy i was there to witness it. my favorite moments from them would definitely be their meltdown and sky battle. (linking a fan-uploaded vod here because there isn't one uploaded by any of the creators)

mcc 24 cyan coyotes winning sot (pearl, jojo, hannah, aimsey)

oh cyan24. anyone that has ever been on this blog knows just how much i fucking adore this team. from the excitement of seeing it be announced, with hannah's mcc debut and pearl and jojo getting a round 2 after mcc 23, to all the vod reviewing and practice streams they did, where hannah painstakingly went over every single game and made google docs for ideal strats and where they also just chilled and chatted as they played (jojo and pearl talking about their cats will always be a fav moment), to event day when all their practice and hard work paid OFF. i could make a whole other post about them alone, but suffice it to say that them winning sands of time was such an electrifying moment because it's known to be the most intense and complex mcc game, both revered and feared by the playerbase. and for a team with a newcomer to win it was just so insanely exhilarating, especially since hannah was unsurprisingly the most nervous about it. cyan24's sot run has since become compulsory watching for anyone wishing to vod review to learn more about sands of time, simply because of how clean, efficient and what a masterclass in comms it is. in particular, aimsey's sandkeeping performance here was so strong, it got them labeled as one of the best sandkeepers in the event just off its sheer strength. xe had extremely clear, concise callouts, and on top of that the whole team went in knowing exactly what they were doing, so there was absolutely no time wasted and their run was very optimised. and their reaction upon seeing they came 1st will never not make me smile because they're all just so overjoyed and on cloud 9. highly, highly recommend going back to watch this if you haven't yet - it might not particularly flashy or spectacular, but it's just so well played, with a fantastic comeback story behind it (they were 7th overall before this game and 4th after, and were widely predicted to come 10th place by the reddit. because reddit.) it's also through this team that i got introduced to hannah and aimsey, who are both such incredibly lovely people and fun to watch not just in mcc but in general.

the entire second half of pete's mcc 25

this might just be the most insane individual performance i've ever seen, simply because of how wildly it swings to each extreme of the spectrum. i made another post highlighting this after mcc 25, but the first half of this mcc didn't go too well for pete or his team lime (with captain, antvenom and jimmy). they were in 10th place overall, with pete being 40th individual after survival games. and then, the second half, which consisted entirely of individual based movement games, came in. if you've ever watched or even just heard about pete in mcc, you'd know that he's known for being incredibly strong in all of the movement games, and i don't think there could be a better display of that than his four game run here which lifted him from 40th at the beginning to 8th at the end. just watching him get 1st in ace race was an insane moment, and from there he came 2nd in hole in the wall, 1st in tgttos and 3rd in parkour tag. what made this all the more fun was how casual he was throughout all of this - it's not like he knew he was dead last individually, and was tryharding as a result of that. he was just chilling and playing the games like he normally would anyways. in between games in the lobby he remarked "i think i might be good at the movement games, and bad at the pvp ones. i don't know, might need a few more events to test this out." i definitely recommend watching his ace race if nothing else - his commentary is super funny and his reaction at the end when he wins is just great.

mcc pride 22 yellow yaks buildmart (grian, scott, gem, shelby)

oh buildmart, buildmart, buildmart. i don't think even one post would be enough for me to fully cover and talk about my thoughts on the very tumultuous history this game has had throughout season 2, especially this year. which is why i feel that yellow pride 22, and the mind blowing dominance they showed in this game, is all the more important. it's four people who are extremely strong at buildmart, have incredible comms and coordination skills, and also happen to be damn good at building. they're all just on the same page the whole game, with grian as the manager helping steer them throughout. i'd like to note that shelby is normally known for being strong at buildmart particularly as a builder, but here, she acts as the floater responsible for gathering all the blocks and listening to grian's commands. a team would have to be extremely strong in buildmart to have shelby be their floater, and this one obviously was. if you include non canon events, this team actually holds the record for the highest scoring buildmart performance of the season, which was at one point also held by grian's team orange 17. in an era of mcc where buildmart has only gotten increasingly maligned and controversial, this performance just serves as a great reminder of all the merits of buildmart and of how the game is intended to be played at its finest.

[the---hermit]

Horror reading challenge

Second proper update of this challenge! Here's the link my first update. This is probably the challenge I have been most excited to complete, as you might know from my posts horror is one of my favourite genre in books, and I love how this challenge has been pushing me to look for such different versions of this genre. I feel like people talk about horror only during October, and the majority of the horror recommendations are either classics or Stephen King, nothing bad with either, but horror is not just that. Anyway what I want to say is that I am really glad how this challenge helps with experiment with such different sides of this genre.

Bunny by Mona Awad for the psycohological horror prompt

I'll be honest and say I hadn't realzed this could count as psychological horror until I saw it in the recommendations for this prompt. But it totally makes sense to have it in this category. This book is weird and not easy to describe, moreover I think it's one of those books that will pull you in even more if you know very little about it. It was really fun and entertaining, and it is indeed creepy on a psychological level, I definitely recommend it.

Something Is Killing The Children vol. 3 by James Tynion IV and Werther dell'Edera for the graphic novel prompt

What can I say? I am obsessed over this series, and I am not big on series usually. The base of the story is very simple and effective. In a world just like ours monsters exist, they are very dangerous, but only children can see them. There's also a secret organization that hunts them and tries to keep hidden their existence. This volume concludes the first "adventure" presented in the comics, so if you are curious the first three volumes will give you a great idea of how these gaphic novels are. Beware it's definitely gory, so keep that in mind if you decide to read these.

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers for the body horror prompt

This book has been all over the internet in the huge trend of unhinged women books. It's really interesting especially in the way it talks about femininity, and I really recommend it for that. I was not a fan of how much Italian there was in the text, because it was clearly not reviewed by an active speaker, and as one it was really annoying to see so many mistakes and sentences that were probably translated using google, but I complained enough in the review of the book.

Wyrd And Other Derelictions by Adam L. G. Nevill for the folk or cosmic horror prompt

I am not sure whether in the book review I mentioned I used this book for the challenge, but I did. I am not sure if this book fits perfectly the cosmic horror genre, but it's pretty close. It's a very peculiar type of horror that develops not with actions of characters, but with descriptions of places. The writing is a bit challenging, but stunning, and the idea at the base of the book is worth alone for this whole collection of short stories. It's absolutely amazing, and I'll definitely check out more stuff written by this author.

As usual the reviews of each book are linked in the titles above.

[duhragonball]

Do you think you'd do a liveblog of another JoJo part?

Short Answer: Yes, but probably not anytime soon.

Long Answer: So when I first got into Jojo, I would post a screencap from each episode of the anime as I watched it, and this gradually expanded into me discussing the plot at length, particularly when I got to Parts 6 and 7. In 2017, the anime only went up to Part 4, so I had to read the manga to keep going, and the manga was a lot tougher for me to follow, so I used the blog to try to keep track of the plot.

I made it all the way to Part 8, which was about 66 chapters in at the time, and that was probably closer to an actual liveblog-style commentary, but I had a hard time keeping up with it after 2017. The plot was bewildering to me, and trying to make sense of it on a month-by-month basis was frustrating. I tried covering about a dozen more chapters later on, but the darn arc just never wanted to end, and it was getting on my nerves. I just wanted to be done with it, but JoJolion refused to end.

Of course, it did end in 2021, and I read it and enjoyed it, but I sort of lost interest in discussing my reactions on social media. The person who got me into JJBA in the first place sort of... vanished? Fuck if I know. The point is that was the only person I knew who had been caught up with Part 8, so it kind of killed my motivation to document my thoughts on it.

Even so, I'd kind of like to do Part 8 all over again, for the satisfaction of liveblogging it proper. Betwen 2018 and 2021, I did liveblogs of Battle Tendency and Vento Aureo, and I think those turned out a lot better than the stuff I had been doing in 2017. For one thing, it was my second time around, so it was a lot easier to keep track of the story and the characters. For another, I had a clearer sense of how I wanted to organize my thoughts.

I would like to do the rest of them the same way. I re-did Part 2 because it was my favorite, and I'd never read the manga. I re-did Part 5 because my first reading of the manga was the barely-legible scanlation from several years ago, and I wanted to brush up on the story in anticipation of the anime version. So I'd like to liveblog Parts 1, 3, and 4 so I can experience the manga, and Part 6 for the anime, and Part 8 for the sake of properly digesting the thing. I'm not sure I have an agenda for SBR, although by the time I get around to that one, the anime will probably be out.

So there is a desire, but I don't know when I'll have time to commit to it. For what it's worth, the big plan I have for 2023 is a liveblog project, but it's all Dragon Ball material. So if you're interested in that, stay tuned. Maybe I can sneak some JoJo stuff in somewhere, but I don't want to promise anything.

Of course, there's also Part 9 on the horizon. From what I've heard, there's this magazine coming out in December that may give some details about when it'll start, but Jojolion has shown me that it's kind of pointless for me to try to get into one of these things unless I can binge-read it. I think Parts 7 and 8 are roughly equal in terms of quality, but SBR was a lot more fun to read because I could finish it in two weeks instead of four years. I may keep up with Part 9 just so I'll be able to follow the memes, but I probably won't have much to say about it for a long time.

Anyway, the bottom line is that I still like JJBA and I still have things to say about it, but not right now. But I appreciate your interest.

[autumnwyvern]

Autumn's cool general inkfish biology hc post that is more up to date than the drawn one and is being made mostly for faer's own reference but you can read it too if you want

Okay so to make a lot of this make sense you have to flip your thinking a bit. The swim form is actually the "true" form while the more humanoid form is exactly that, a mimic form of a long-extinct species. This is most clearly seen in how the mimic form develops over time after birth, and how easy form switching is. The mimic form is simply seen as the default because, well, having hands is extremely convenient! Furthermore, it is worth noting that one, if they so choose, can continue to hone their skill in mimicry (for lack of better term) and be able to make changes in their physical appearance more readily and with equally minimal effort. Think about how in game you can go back and change your gender and eye color and such, like that but a bit more restricted unless the inkfish is REALLY good at controlling the appearance of their mimic form. However, most commonly one decides on how they will present at a young age and stick with that for most if not all of their life. This does also extend to sex organs with anyone having the potential to produce either sperm or eggs (or both or none, if they REALLY wanted to no judgement here) this is something that does take a bit more effort to change due to being more directly part of a biological process but not prohibitively so. Also what an inkfish chooses in this manner has little bearing on what gender they present as just like real life :)

Water! Water in either small amounts (such as a light rain or using the shower) is perfectly fine, inkfish can also drink water. Though even in a small amount of water things could get a bit dangerous if you aren't careful! We may get prune-y but inkfish will start to "leak" ink in areas that have been submerged the longest. Being suddenly dunked in water or drenched will completely destabilize their out membrane (skin) and cause them to pop, as we see in game. There is minor variations in resistance to how long one can last and youths can be seen comparing it like how we would compare how long we can hold our breath underwater. Water CAN be treated to essentially create an isotonic solution, allowing inkfish to bathe or hang out in a pool freely. This is generally not used in inksports stages as having untreated water makes for a great "out of bounds" marker.

Which I suppose brings us to respawning. Any creature that is able to submerge and essentially become one with its own ink/ooze can respawn so this includes salmonids but we are just gonna focus on inkfish for now. What we see as the little ghostie in game is less of a spirit and more of a "core" of the person, carrying just the most basic information necessary for continued survival, and is ejected from where the body is gravely harmed in an attempt to launch it towards a place with safe ink so one can reform. If no such thing is around the little packet of cells will shrivel up and die for good. In the case of inksports its basically super jumping back to base where the pressurized ink of the respawner speeds up the reformation process dramatically. Technology! In cases of extreme emergency the core can be put in a container full of the proper ink to keep it hydrated until a place with respawn technology is reached. This is not fun for the inkfish.

My thoughts on how octoling tentacles work hasn't changed since my last post about it but I'll talk about it here to just so everything is together. Under most normal circumstances a cut tentacle would just helplessly wriggle about for some time and then stop, like what happens when a lizard loses its tail. If the conditions are JUST RIGHT it may become a little guy, and if conditions are even more just right would grow into a full octoling. Although this is a rare occurrence, some people are more superstitious about it than others and will take (sometimes delicious) steps to prevent it from ever happening. On the other hand the octarian army has developed ways into forcing this to happen and tentacle folk and clone octolings are fairly common among the general domes population. This came about while developing technology to extend the lifespan of severed tentacles in order to create automatons and has developed to the point of where octarian scientists can deliberately grow a cloned octoling with a high probability of success. Tentacles cut from tentacle folk or cloned octolings have a much reduced lifespan and can't really produce even more tentacle folk because of it. Furthermore cloned octolings are sterile and if an individual can even form any gametes they'd all be duds. So it goes.

Thats it for now okay byeee

[autistic-autumn]

Music Ramblings #1

Decided to start doing these every now and again. Will tag all posts with music I've found and my thoughts on it with '#Autumn's Music Ramblings'. My inbox is always open if you want to send music in and I love people doing that. Will sort out exactly what's happening later but for now I just have this. If you want to send me music then feel free. Always like people sending in whatever. I'll probably respond to ask and then later give more rambling though. If you want me to give you music then you can also ask and I can find you something. I mostly just like rambling about music a lot.

Capital Punishment by Abuse Ken This one was suggested by @aroace-poly-show (sorry marlo for ping, didn't get chance to respond earlier when you shared). This isn't a style I tend to listen to very often but was very cool. The way the piece constantly plays with shifting the rhythm in the sections is very cool and gives a lot of drive between sections. I quite like how the chorus is effectively just pedaling the high G while shifting chords underneath. The leaps here are nice. Makes for a very strong sound compared to the more melodic verses. Do enjoy a nice modulation during final chorus. Overall very cool piece and will likely continue to listen to in future. Used to listen to a fair bit more vocaloid but never got that far into finding new stuff.

Samuel Barber, Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 This is honestly one of the best pieces I've found recently. It's so sublime and beautiful. I personally prefer the 1960 version Barber wrote for choir. Something about closely set voices that is particularly pleasing. It's just a little softer and smoother than the string. I'm pretty sure there's some psychological reason why critical bandwidth doesn't really apply so much to human voices. I've been listening to this almost on loop recently. Was particularly nice while walking in the rain yesterday while it was a bit dark and kind of cold. Hearing this live in a venue like a church with all that resonance would be incredible and I hope to be able to see a performance one day.

Samuel Barber, Toccata Festiva, Op. 36 Been on a bit of a Samuel Barber roll recently and just picked a bunch of his stuff out of the library. Did not realize this one was an organ concertina really. Very exciting and organs are such cool instruments that really don't have enough soloist + orchestra repertoire. I actually posted a video of this one after listening to it with just the organ pedal cadenza because that thing is wild to watch someone play. You never really know what you're getting with Samuel Barber and this was certainly a fun and dynamic piece.

Tchaikovsky Symphony No.4 in F minor, Op. 36 Generally a very nice symphony but that's sort of expected with Tchaikovsky. A bit frilly at times but that is also just how Tchaikovsky is. Not much really stood out to me as particularly notable in this but was generally nice enough. The third movement however is extremely cool and the high speed pizz reminds me a lot of the second movement from the Ravel string quartet. Certainly a lot of a fun with that movement and was quite interesting. Not my favourite Tchaikovsky symphony but nice enough.

Gustav Holst Op.3 Quintet in A minor This is quite a nice short set of four movement for Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon and Piano. I do like wind ensembles particularly so this was nice. It's from Holst's student years and never got performed till after his death in 1989. Likely written around the turn of the century. Does sound like a late romantic piece rather than the later Holst works. I personally thing the first and second movements are the best. The first has some very nice melodies and is smooth and elegant. The second movement is highly paced and neat but nothing hugely notable I don't think. Third movement is pretty interesting and the B section is particularly pleasing, although doesn't last very long. This is admittedly the first time I have seen a proper score use quadruple dotted notes, normally you only ever get a double if you're lucky. Fourth movement is quite nice too although nothing really stands out to me other than the cadence at the end which is quite interesting and is certainly hinting towards Holst's later harmonic development.

[keepthisholykiss]

Okay it's time, here's my gtfo of Tumblr post

Since Tumblr was previously my most active social media website I figure I will make a proper post to pin about my move off-site. By Jan 1 this blog will be deleted entirely. If you want to find me elsewhere now is the time. Here's the list of places to find me and how often I'll be around them!

My new website! - This is hands down the easiest place to find me. I am creating my website from the ground up so it's a mess but in an endearing way. I've even made my first blog post here. This website will essentially function how my Tumblr previously did. I will post blogs about random things, add updates on projects, create and publish free educational resources, and more! I do not have an RSS (yet?) so the easiest way to follow me is via a neocities account.

Cohost - Of the many twitter alts out there I like cohost the best. I have fun with it, I'm slowly finding my feet there, and I think the vibes are generally good. I do not follow nearly enough folks yet so if you follow me here please let's be mutuals there! I plan to use it much like twitter with lots of one-off thoughts. I am only still on twitter to stay up to date with activism stuff so it's really not worth plugging my twitter now.

Instagram - This is one of the only "big" socials I am active on. It's best to follow me here for activism stuff, cooking, and art as those are basically the only things I post there. If you want to follow me on IG please DM me because I am selective with who I trust to follow me there as I post more IRL things there.

...and that's it! Unless another weird niche semi-old-internet vibe type thing comes out I will only be in those three places from now on. I have been a tumblr user with few breaks since 2008 across a variety of accounts and niches. I don't know that I ever thought I would leave tumblr "for good" but it's way past time. My work in activism will continue offline largely or in ways I'm not talking about here.

Since I won't have time or space to post it in the new year (and like only 2 IRLs follow me here) we are relocating to Oregon next year for probably our last major move ever unless we end up needing (and having the means lol) to leave the country. I am also leaving 4-year institution work which is very exciting for me. Our journey in moving, my journey in finding my place in alternative educational lenses, and more will be covered largely on my blog and in other places I'm sure. So if any of that interests you feel free to follow me off this website. I also have heard something about tumblr dying (again) which lol, lmao even. I truly don't care how true or not that is, please know my intention in leaving has nothing to do with that and has everything to do with being a marketable number for them.

In closing, fuck tumblr, fuck staff, fuck specifically the bitch who runs emporium and tricked all these kids into dumping funds into a website that hates them. Fuck zionists, fuck transphobes, fuck racists, fuck neoliberal apologists, and fuck anyone who is trying to shame you into shutting up about the lives of people who deserve to live. Also organize within your communities and find ways to disengage from the economy and create a better future.

My wish is that every oppressed nation of beautiful people will be free now and forever, that land goes back to who it belongs to, and that some day capitalism will not ruin art, community, and love the way it has on this website and across the world.

[benjimarii]

Bro I am so invested into all your aus? Would you say you have a favourite? And if you do why's it your fav

Thanks for the ask! Long post, so be advised!

I talk a lot more about my aus with friends and some people on discord, so it's cool to share them with other people finally haha.

I think my favorite one is my post OV au, that takes place during, after, and the following years of the space road trip. It's where my writing piece "an open book" comes from! I've been working on this au for years, back when I had no socials to share it on. But, I am gonna keep it on the down low until I get things organized. I feel like I lean more towards writing the later years instead of the road trip, so it definitely needs working on.

There's not a definitive name for the au yet, since it's still very much being worked on, but man, I have some very fun concepts for it. Especially villain concepts for reoccurring villains from the franchise. (Which would take a lot of explaining in this post, so I'll make a follow up if you're interested.)

It also contains almost all of my fan made aliens, and not just Omnitrix ones. Entire worlds full of lore, designs and characters, and even connecting story lines between the worlds.

The bulk of the writing for the au so far is during the road trip, and Ben's early 20's. I still need a proper timeline for the events leading into his 20's, but that's not to say I have nothing for those years. I just need to fill them up in the right order of events.

As for my more established au, it would have to be the Sci-Fantasy AU. There's three clear age related arcs, being early years of the Omnitrix, older years, and the corruption arc. By god, I adore the corruption arc. There's also more cemented lore and understanding for this au, so it's a close contender for my favorite. Here's a sneaky look at the design for Ben during the corruption arc, which has something to do with the Omnitrix being... Not so helpful 😉

Here are the titles of other aus I have been working on/worked on are:

Cowboys and Aliens

Raised by Azmuth (co creating with a friend)

Bad Dreams

Fused Destiny

Surrender!

In Plain Sight

Anodite Ben (my take on it, since it's a popular concept)

((I'm pretty sure that's all of them, but I might be missing a couple smaller ones))

If you want any info for any of the listed ones, or if one just sounds interesting, I'd love to elaborate!

[raleighliving]

Raleigh Apartment Culture

So I'm of the mind that Raleigh is a great place to live. It has my favorite things, my favorite people, and I'm too broke to move anywhere else.

Raleigh works for me, but I recognize it doesn't work for everyone. Some people had less than ideal childhoods and wanna escape the state ASAP, some just want to live closer to their dream jobs or have new opportunities. That's all fine, but what if this describes where you are now?

What if, for the sake of argument, you're outside of NC and wanna move in? Moving is expensive, time-consuming, and risky at the best of times; so you wanna make sure that wherever you're landing is at least as good as where you started 90% of the time

"But RL," I hear you say, "you make Raleigh sound like an idyllic dreamscape populated with parks and a diverse kumbayah of peoples living in harmony"

I do talk about Raleigh in a positive light but, like a life saving medicine flavored like ass, sometimes you have to take the good with the bad.

So before you spend thousands of dollars on moving vans, boxes, and grits; here's a crash course on what it's like living in a Raleigh apartment, coming from someone whose majority of Raleigh Living (heh) has been in apartments.

First off, location. Any realtor will tell you that location is 80% of the sale to sound profound, and as anyone who has lived in the middle of ass-backward nowhere can tell you: It sucks having to drive 30 minutes to go anywhere.

Good news: With the Raleigh Beltline and connecting roads, there are very few places in Raleigh where your trip will last longer than thirty minutes one-way. Bad News: where you set down still matters because cutting down on travel is important for car and mental health.

North Raleigh is different from south Raleigh is different from northwest Raleigh, and the locals aren't the only difference you'll find between locations. Each segment of Raleigh has something to offer, with easier access to some attractions than others and neighboring cities for when you need something outside the RDU area.

Using downtown as the center of our wheel, people generally divide Raleigh into North and South Raleigh (with distinction given for NW, SE, NE, etc when needed). N.Raleigh is considered generally more upscale, a slice of suburban living interspersed with plenty of shopping centers for families and the moderately wealthy; but it's boring as all hell.

Want some fun? Excitement in the evenings and a more traditional urban experience with bars, night clubs, strip clubs, and more? South Raleigh is your best bet, at the cost of being the "sketchy" side of Raleigh. That kind of place where you'll see a bunch of auto shops that look abandoned but haven't been closed in the past 5 years and there's at least one customer from time to time.

Of course, this is a lot of generalizing but you'll find that it's still mostly accurate. The main exception in this is Capital Blvd, a highway cutting across north and south Raleigh on the eastern half of the city; a high crime corridor that's undergoing some changes in the northern half that have (somewhat) reduced crime but most people will still associate that area with the majority of Raleigh's crime and debauchery.

More importantly, is the distinction Raleigh citizens put on inside the beltline versus outside the beltline. The I-440 and 540 highways that wrap around Downtown form the mythical beltline, and to a degree what you have access to. Inside the beltline is the majority of workplaces, stores, and shopping centers; while outside you'll still have these things just to a more... dispersed extent.

North Raleigh actually kinda exemplifies this perfectly. Living inside the beltline, you have access to places like North Hills, Crabtree Valley mall, and Triangle Town Center. Live outside the beltline, like I currently am, and you're looking at 10 to 15 minutes to the nearest sheetz for that late night double hot dog fix.

So for point one: How important is it that you're near things? The majority of apartments and rental properties are in or around the belt-line, but if you want to save some cash on rent checks the cheaper properties are gonna extend your trips a bit.

Next, what can you expect in terms of neighbors? Does Raleigh have a hip party scene full of teens renting cheap apartments and blasting trap music at 3AM?

Depends on where you live

I swear not every point is going to be this, but there's an important distinction this time that affects the type of people your complex will likely have surrounding you; are you in North or South Raleigh?

North Raleigh has a ton of pre-schools, k-12 public schools (Leesville, Hillburn, Lead Mine, just to name a few), and office complexes that make up the job market. As a result the majority of apartment renters in north Raleigh tend to be families with a few small kids or so.

As a result, living off of Glenwood North and Edwards Mill I never had any noise problems from neighbors, the worst being kids playing outside at 3PM sounding like they were being murdered (which apparently is a common thing and I apologize to any neighbors I frightened with ghastly shrieks).

What I did have a problem with, however, was the typical Karen's you hear people complain about online. Renting a property now, we have access to our neighborhood's NextDoor page and it's hilarious sometimes to go on and read the comments, but living at a certain property we had a sort of mini-Facebook for residents

That thing was always full of either people who were moving out looking to sell their furniture or people passive-aggressively challenging each other/the apartment managers with comments about things happening around the complex.

Once I logged in to see one man accuse another, without ever actually accusing someone specific ("I know who did it and they should be ashamed" type post) of putting glass beer bottles under the tires of his truck to try and puncture them. Everyone acts civil in public, but then online they'll stir the pot harder than a chef with a hand mixer.

South Raleigh, you have the schools like Shaw University, Meredith, and NCSU; so the people renting down there are typically college kids. You'll see more apartments that cater towards them like University Village or University Woods, but sometimes these places will cater to both college kids and working adults

Avoid these places like the plague, because despite sometimes having a lower cost to live there the neighbors and their shenanigans will drive you up the wall (unless you're the type to join in, then go wild).

I've had friends stay at places like University Village and The Proper (formerly The Vie, formerly Wolf Creek) who've shared horror stories. 3AM parties ending in property damage or vomit in inconvenient places, drug deals not even trying to be subtle, and maintenance workers doing nothing because regardless of the apartment conditions; no school's gonna pull their contract with them unless news articles start getting written.

http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_898ddf34-82f5-11e7-b3d8-07059d248619.html

https://www.wral.com/vie-at-raleigh-residents-finally-able-to-move-into-clean-units/16887833/

http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_ea8ed7aa-a092-11e8-a2af-e70af36566d0.html

Otherwise, south Raleigh apartments are largely like north Raleigh apartments; except the crime rate tends to be a little higher and you'll run into more singles and people working full time.

Otherwise, Raleigh apartment culture is like apartment culture anywhere else in the country. You have a mix of apartments catering to those just looking to live versus more ostentatious luxury apartments with fancy pools, exercise facilities, and tech packages to draw people in.

If you're renting in Raleigh, however, do try to get a roommate or two if you can manage. Even with a decent job paying 800+ on a one bedroom one bath apartment can be exhausting at best, but with even one other person that can functionally halve your expenses

So if you're a young professional, or a student, or even if you have a small family, I can safely recommend renting in Raleigh. There's plenty of places that'll accommodate you, and cater towards your needs.

But what about everyone else? Are there people who shouldn't rent in Raleigh?

No

But there are groups who I'd seriously ask to consider their other choices before picking Raleigh as a destination for their new home.

For instance, are you a member of the LGBT community? A trans or non-binary individual? Well then, first off, I want you to know that you're loved and valid. I'm accepting of who you are and appreciate everyone's right to identify how they choose, but I'm not everyone.

Raleigh's bluer than other parts of North Carolina, as I've stated in other blog write-ups, but it's still part of North Carolina unfortunately and as a result, you'll face some challenges.

I doubt anyone's gonna burn a cross in your yard or knock over your mailbox, but Raleigh doesn't offer LGBT protections for housing, jobs, or credit/lending discriminations according to the Movement Advancement Project's website.

We have support organizations for LGBT and NB individuals, plenty of high schools and colleges have Gay-Straight Alliance clubs, and there are numerous businesses downtown that cater specifically to those individuals... but we're also the state that got into a lot of hot water because of a stupid bathroom bill, and our politicians are trying to pass anti-trans sports legislation (because they now magically care about the integrity of womens sports).

By that measure, but to a lesser extent, if you fall outside the Liberal/Conservative political spectrum then be prepared to have no one to discuss your politics with outside of a few sparse networks like the DSA.

Additionally, if you don't have someone to room with or a significant other to split costs with; you may want to try searching somewhere a little cheaper.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Raleigh housing prices aren't terrible for a major metropolitan city, but we're not the best prices in the world.

You can get prices on apartments and rentals lower than say, California or New York. However, compared to other parts of NC like Greensboro or Garner; rentals are still a bit much.

On average, a Raleigh apartment can run you about $900 for a single bedroom and a single bathroom. You can find cheaper, but often times there's some risk associated (Crime levels, quality of the room, quality of the property manager, etc.) Looking for a two bedroom? Then your average price is gonna jump up to around $1,200, and this is all before utilities and cable come into play.

It's true a lot of companies around here will pay more than the $7.25 minimum wage, but most low-skilled jobs will pay around 10-11 an hour.

I guess though, that's kind of an obvious statement. "Don't live in Raleigh if you can't afford to live in Raleigh."

I might expand on these thoughts at a later time, but hopefully for now I've given you some food for thought; or at the very least an entertaining read for a few minutes.

I love my city, and I love the friends I've made in it, but the sad truth is that nowhere is perfect for everyone; leastways Raleigh. If Raleigh sounds like the kind of place you'd like to live in, at least take a day trip to come visit and see how things go that way. Visit some stores, meet some locals, and form an opinion off of more than travel blogs and youtube videos.

[talldecafcappuccino]

Title: Between Close Friends

Rating: General Audience

Chapters: 1/1

Relationship: Ted Lasso/Rebecca Welton

Summary: Ted is bad at social media, but is that a bad thing?

Ted, what the fuck are you doing????

Ted peers at his phone, rubbing sleep from his eyes and reads the message again.

He scrolls down and sees he has twelve more texts and three missed calls all from Keeley Jones. He turns off his nighttime notifications with a few exceptions for emergency contacts, so it’s not surprising he slept through the messages.

He scratches at the stubble along his cheek and checks his clock. It’s seven o’clock here in Kansas, so it must be . . . early afternoon in London. He thinks through the last day, but he can’t remember anything interesting enough to have Keeley on the case.

Henry came over to his extended-stay hotel, they went to an American football game, got a late dinner in downtown Wichita, and watched a movie before bed.

They did make it on the Jumbotron for the Lasso-off, the team’s half-time dance contest, but his moves weren’t especially embarrassing. At least not in his opinion. Unless one of the moves was actually an insult to the English in which case, oh jeeze, he needs to get on this quick.

The call barely connects before Keeley’s voice echoes in his ear.

“Oy! Ted!”

“Keeley, I am so sorry for whatever I did to offend the great people of the United Kingdom. I am ready to make a statement and an apology tour as soon as you tell me which dance move I need to retire immediately.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I need you to log out of the AFC Richmond Instagram account. Like, now.”

That stops Ted in his tracks.

Does he even have access to that? He remembers a post-it note of accounts and passwords from Beard on their first day with Richmond.

There was an account run by the previous manager, but Keeley had taken it over long ago, converting it to the official team account. She had also made Ted a personal Instagram for his own use and brand development, but he never posted publicly.

He puts her on speaker phone and opens the Instagram app. She’s right. He’s logged into the team account with all 25 million followers. Well, shoot.

There are about a dozen stories posted from last night. All of Ted and Henry’s day together. There’s puns (“having a cow” at dinner with an image of Henry holding up a beef rib and screaming his head off), Ted and Henry singing at a dueling piano bar, the two brushing their teeth together in the bathroom mirror.

“No offense, but I think this may delay the Tom Ford deal you asked me about.”

“Yeah. I get that.”

“It’s just, you know, dads aren’t quite their brand. Or our brand. I mean we’re not anti-dorky dad, but you know with the whole comeback narrative during the season hiatus . . .”

“No I get it. You’ve put a lot of work into rebranding this team and I just undermined that.”

She sighs, but it’s fond.

“Sorry, Ted. It’s not like what you posted was bad, it’s rather sweet actually. It’s just a little different from the posts I had scheduled.”

Ted nodded. It wasn’t the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to him, but he felt bad for making Keeley’s job harder than it needed to be.

“No, I’m sorry Keeley. I swear, it won’t happen again.”

****

“Can you believe what Ted did last night? I’ve never seen someone so bad at social media.”

Rebecca has no idea what Keeley is talking about when she walks into her office. She flops onto the couch, feet splayed on the coffee table, clearly exhausted by whatever Ted has done from 4,438 miles away.

“So many puns. Which, don't get me wrong, I love word play more than most people. But I don’t think it’s right for the team right now.”

Rebecca shuts her laptop.

“You’re right about puns not being part of the team plan, but what’s this about Ted? What did he do, exactly?”

Ted hasn’t posted anything in at least 24 hours. Not that Rebecca is keeping track.

“Oh he managed to switch to the team account on Instagram and posted about his entire evening out with Henry. It was quite sweet, actually. The ones that made sense,” but then she pulled a face.”He’s like, really, really bad at social media.”

Oof. Well that isn’t great, but Rebecca doesn’t think there’s anything particularly terrible about Ted’s social media use normally.

“But everything seems under control? No big PR actions needed.”

“It’s fine. I had him log out and wrote a post about Coach Lasso’s surprise social media takeover from America.”

Rebecca nods. Okay, so it was all sorted. Keeley has things totally under control.

But she reaches for her phone anyway. She opens Instagram, taps through the AFC Richmond stories, and snorts at the image of Henry with the rib as big as his head.

“Are people at least being kind?” Rebecca hopes Ted logged out without seeing any messages about Henry. Not that she could see any reason for it, but people were shitheads on the internet.

“Well, wanker is still the most common response. But many of them are wanker with a little heart at the end, so I think it’s fine. We actually got a lot of responses, proper engagement and all that,” she looks up at the ceiling, considering it for a moment before rolling her head to look back at Rebecca.

“If we weren’t trying to present the team as a badass phoenix rising from the ashes, I’d say a Ted takeover isn’t a bad idea. He just needs some supervision. Maybe a phone with a better camera.”

Rebecca is only half listening as she taps to the next story.

“Aw, they went to dueling piano night. That must have been fun for Henry.”

She’s smiling at her phone when Keeley asks, “Dueling piano night?”

“Yeah, you know at Jim Bob’s Bar.”

Keeley is looking at her blankly.

“Fine. I know it’s not really Jim Bob’s bar. It’s probably not even a bar if Henry’s there. But I can’t remember the real name off the top of my head.”

She’d looked it up once, after Ted first posted about the dueling pianos. For some reason she started calling it Jim Bob’s. Ted didn’t seem bothered and had even started calling it that himself.

When she looks up again, Keeley is staring at her, eyes narrowed.

“What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean?”

“How do you know so much about some bar in Kansas?”

That gives Rebecca pause. She isn’t sure what Keeley means by the line of questioning.

“It’s not some totally random bar. Ted posts about it whenever he goes for dueling pianos.”

If he gets to the bar early or she has a particularly late evening, Rebecca catches the story before going to bed. When she does, she always asks him to put in $5 for Wannabee by the Spice Girls. She owes him a small fortune by now, but it’s worth it to see the bar explode with cheers and jeers.

Some nights she misses the story, but he puts money in anyways and she wakes up to a shaky video of, Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want.

Rebecca thinks this is a good enough explanation, but Keeley is still staring at her.

“I’ve literally no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Keeley, you know social media is not my thing. All I know is that sometimes Ted posts about this bar on his tiny friends list thing,” she waves her hand around, trying her best to describe it. “The one with the green ring around it.”

Keeley leaps to her feet, eyes wide.

“Am I not on Ted’s Close Friends list??”

Before Rebecca can say a word, Keeley is halfway out the door, texting furiously.

“Roy, better not be on there, if I’m not on there. Ted knows how I feel about being left out!” she shouts over her shoulder. “Sorry Rebecca, I need to do some investigating, asap.”

Oof. She may have just created a problem. It’s probably best to give Ted a heads up before Keeley gets through interrogating Roy.

She drafts a text once, twice, then deletes it and presses call instead.

“Hey Boss, let me guess. Keeley got a hold of you?”

It’s been a while since they’ve chatted, what with the time difference. It’s bizarre how familiar his American accent has become.

“She just left my office, yes.”

There’s a loud crack in the background and a metal clang.

“Where are you?”

“Oh, just the batting cages with Henry,” he says, cheering loudly. “Hey, do you guys have a sport called baseball that has nothing to do with American baseball? You know, like football and football?”

She chuckles, “I don’t believe we do. However there is always cricket.”

He hums, considering it.

“Now Ted, I think there’s something you should know.”

“Lay it on me Boss. I know I caused a headache this morning, what’s the damage? What do you need me to do? I am at your disposal or I’ll lay really, really low as long as you need me to.”

“It’s not that Ted. It’s Keeley.”

“Keeley?”

“Yes, she’s on a bit of a mission at the moment. It seems you left her off your Close Friends list? I think that’s right. On Instagram?”

“Huh. How did that come up?”

“I was telling her about Jim Bob’s. Apparently she had never heard of it and realized you had a whole social media life she was unaware of.”

“Right . . .”

“So do what you will with that.”

“You haven’t talked to anyone else about this yet, have you?”

Rebecca is confused by this new direction.

“No. Why? Ted, is something wrong?”

It takes a long moment for Ted to respond.

“What can I say, I’m just really bad at this social media stuff.”

It's a non-response and an overly folksy one at that. But Rebecca can’t be fooled by the aw shucks routine—not anymore. She tries again.

“Ted. Who is on your close friends list?”

“Uh. Not a lot of people.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

“What can I say?” He huffs, a little frustrated. She would feel bad for prying, but she can't help herself. “The list of people I want to share silly life things with is small.”

“How small?” she wonders.

“Very small.”

The line goes silent and Rebecca swears she lost him. But then she hears him take a deep breath.

“It’s you. You’re the list.”

Rebecca feels flush. That’s not where she was expecting this conversation to go.

“I know that might be a lot. You don’t have to say anything. I just, that’s the honest truth and I’d like to get ahead of it before Keeley harangues the entire team.”

It’s a lot to take in, but it makes sense. Sometimes when she’s watching his posts, she wonders about his audience. Who else cares about his biscuit recipe improvements or Broadway Sundays (a recent development that’s turned into a shared movie night.)

“Rebecca?”

She realizes she’s been quiet for a while. The moment feels tenuous and she worries about saying the wrong thing, sending him running faster than Keeley during a social media snafu.

Finally she settles on, “You know, you’re welcome to text me silly life things. It wouldn’t be a bother.”

She brushes invisible crumbs from her desk, listening carefully to his breathing on the other end of the line.

“Yeah?”

“Yes. Maybe I can send some, too?”

Rebecca can hear his smile from across the Atlantic.

“Well, alright then.”

****

That night, Ted’s phone pings and he rolls over to see a text message from Rebecca. It’s a picture of the sun rising over her garden wall.

Something silly to start the day.

But it doesn’t feel silly. Not at all.

[lizzybeth1986]

Quick Thoughts on The Royal Heir, Book 1 Chapter 1

• We're back! Hopefully with a better series this time, but I'm not going to keep my hopes too high.

• If my QTs are clogging up your dash, I recommend you block these particular tags: #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, and optionally #long post.

• Much like my Book 3 QTs, I will be exploring as many playthroughs as I possibly can to see how each LI's route is being written. Last book, this experiment definitely helped me figure out that they were putting more effort into some characters and less into others, and I'd still like to keep an eye out for these things as much as possible.

• I feel this QT might be shorter than my usual (edit: joke's on me - it's not!! 🙈), mostly because the opening chapter itself is...pretty light, and is mostly meant for us to spend time and have fun with our chosen LI. Plus a tiny smidgen of buildup to the premise, which is having a child in Cordonia. But I do have a theory about the overall theme that I'm going to be expanding on towards the end of the chapter.

• Okay that's it for preliminary explanations, it's time for me to start with the chapter! XD

• Ooh. Oooooooh. This loading page now has tidbits about Cordonian society!! Interesting.

• Title: Happily Ever Afterwards

Alternative Title: Be Grateful We're Letting You Have This Much Sex For Free This Week, Because That's The Last Time It's Happening.

• I'm extremely offended they're making me wear that Pepto Bismol outfit again.

•

...thanks so much for reminding me you still don't care about Hana, PB! 🙄 Everyone else remains to be some version of "loyal", but Hana is still considered more for her skills than for her own steadfastness, even though she was the most hardcore-loyal of the four (SHE LEFT HER FREAKING HOME. HER FREAKING FAMILY. FOR YOU. While the other three were certainly loyal and honorable to the MC, they definitely didn't have to completely cut ties with their families to do right by the MC).

• The "fairytale" aesthetics of the frame story were what drew people into TRR in the first place, so it's not too surprising that the LIs and MC give a nod to the flagship series with a "once upon a time". If you're with Liam, it goes straight from "falling in love with the Prince" to what his relationship with her taught him, before the happily ever after. If you're with one of the other three LIs, it specifies that she came there for Liam but fell for someone else. Sounds a lot like Maxwell's book 😄 In Maxwell's playthrough, in fact, there is a reference to it when the MC calls him a "famous author".

•

(Screenshots organized as follows: 1 - Liam, 2 - Drake, 3 - Maxwell, 4 - Hana. Liam's and Hana's are my own. Drake's from @thefirstcourtesan, and Maxwell's from Kaitlyn Walker's YouTube channel).

The other interesting thing to note is that in Liam's playthrough, he leads the narration. While in everyone else's the MC is the one who steers it. One reason I can think of is that the narrative still treats this story as Liam's story as much as it is the MC's (if I'm right about the theme) - which...has honestly always been a sore point with the fanbase in TRR. That would depend on how us and our baby are now further involved with Cordonia in the story. Another factor for why she leads the narration...could be that essentially, the MC took initiative in the other three relationships, while in Liam's case it was he who took a more active role by proposing to her.

• The little story ends with this question from the MC:

Question: But what happens after Happily Ever After?

Answer: Mess. In Cordonia it's always mess.

• Cordonians (specifically the upper classes, since I don't know enough about the common populace to tell, since they're, yknow, practically invisible) are addicted to tea, apples and fucking shit up where they don't even need to.

• ANYWAY. What (literally) happens after 'happily ever after' is a tropical honeymoon on Liam's private island. In the case of the other three, he allows them access to the place and gives the staff instructions on making the stay comfortable for them.

• Now, since Liam owns the island and has probably visited it a could times, he shows more familiarity with it. He tells his wife that on previous trips the island had more rustic accommodations, but the villa they're now staying in was prepared recently. Additionally, the butler welcomes Hana, Maxwell and Drake as newcomers to the island, considering it's their first time. With Liam, there is an air of familiarity - he calls the butler by his name (Javier) and enquires about him and his wife (Mariana) - to show us perhaps how familiar he is with this holiday spot.

• Why the hell does everyone call Liam "Your Highness"? It's been two whole books since he became King, and the proper title for a monarch is "Your Majesty". How is it that Constantine gets to rake the MC over the coals for calling him Your Highness, yet Liam has to hear this from practically everyone. From Javier to freakin' Protocol-Monitor-Madeleine! The disrespect, I tell you!

• Okay so we're having a candlelit dinner by the ocean, and we get our first OOTD. Cute beach dress, has bright flowers and some crochet work on the bodice. I bought it because I couldn't bear to have Esther stay another minute in that Pepto Bismol of a dress.

• LOL @ all the LI responses to "this spot is right where the sharks are!"

• Tuna sashimi and pineapple aioli, huh? I have never had either so idek what that's supposed to taste like (someone on this writing team likes pineapples). I remember having to cut down on tuna during pregnancy, which meant no more Subway sandwiches since the tuna sub was the only one I liked at the time. IIRC most of my family were also cautioning me against pineapples and papaya during my first trimester!

• My gosh this butler doesn't waste much time jumping into assumptions huh?

• Also Javier, why is Cordonia's future so dependent on the well-being of my foetus even if I'm not ruling the country?

• Does Cordonia have sex ed? My money is on no. (esp in the Hana route).

• So there are two parts to the way the premise of wanting to have kids is built up in this sequence. In the first part, the LI impresses upon the MC the need to have children soon after the wedding. The second part addresses the urgency - the "why right now?" factor, and explores the LI's personal emotions towards having children. This bit also feels a bit like a follow-up to the Valtoria balcony scene in Chapter 15.

• The first part is pretty similar for Drake, Hana and Maxwell - all three of whom are now married to a Duchess and are aware that securing the duchy is important. They word it in their own distinctive styles, but the gist is pretty much the same. In Liam's case, since he is the king of the country, he speaks more about Cordonia and its tensions with neighbouring countries.

Take note of this because I'll be returning to this point later. (also who are the writers trying to convince about Cordonia's size. "Small kingdom" my ass).

• I'll be going by the LIs' personal reasons to have a baby now, one by one, along with a summary of their views on children in the Valtoria balcony scene last book (since this scene clearly references that diamond scene if you've bought it last book).

(Screenshots: Liam's and Hana's screenshots are mine, Drake's is from @thefirstcourtesan and Maxwell's is from Kaitlyn Walker's YouTube channel)

- Liam: Liam's love for family and need for children is well-known throughout the series. In Book 1, he's dropped hints about wanting to have a different kind of family dynamic from the one he'd experienced as a child, and in Book 2 there were multiple references to wanting to not be Constantine - both as a King and as a father. In the balcony scene in Book 3, Chapter 15, Liam tells us a number of things - about the value of having more heirs for succession, of him always dreaming of having at least 3 children, about Kenna, Cordonia's most legendary warrior queen which leads to an interesting factoid about how the rules of successions for both the throne and duchies are not gender-specific (he also cites Olivia and Penelope as being in line to inherit their duchies). In this sequence Liam undoubtedly has more to say about the political aspect of having an heir than the personal, but his statement about "someone missing" in their lives is of no surprise when he's been enthusiastic about kids for three books straight.

- Drake: Drake perhaps gets the lengthiest 'personal' bit of all, revolving around his eagerness to be a father and his own family history. This scene has Drake speaking of wanting a child with "your eyes and my hair", but most of all of Savannah and her little family, and wanting the happiness his sister is experiencing now. The writing often manages to tie Drake's thoughts about his future family with his past: in the Valtoria balcony scene, his memories of his father and his desire to bring up his own kids the way Jackson did are dominant in the conversation on children. He speaks at length about the absence of a proper 'home' so far in his life (stating that his room at the palace always felt like "a room in someone else's house") and how high on his priority list the prospect of having children is. The Valtoria scene shows him eager to have kids asap, and this scene builds up the same urgency. You're left in no doubt that he wants those kids now.

• Maxwell: Maxwell's route of this scene soundly pretty sudden, tbh. In his Valtoria scene, Maxwell expressed doubt and nervousness when it came to children, citing the example of Bartie ("I love palling around with little Bartie and everything, but if he bonks his head or something, I can just hand him back to Savannah. When it's your kid, you're the one people hand him to."). While this is referenced in TRH's dialogue when Maxwell jokes about forgetting diapers and baby socks - it's a pretty big jump from the man who didn't exactly feel ready to have children yet, and not enough work was done to justify that shift. This could be somewhat excused in the beginning of Book 3, when the narrative had just begun to treat him like an LI, but they've had an entire damn book and several months after to reflect on how to write him properly. That is...if they actually gave a damn.

- Hana: They don't even have the excuse of "relatively new LI" in Hana's case. Because she is the lone female LI married to a female MC, her scene should have been a lot more extensive and explored her urgency to have children so soon after their wedding, a whole lot more. There are tiny changes, like the one where she hints at the "logistical concerns" that come with two women considering a family, and where she speaks of giving her child the childhood she never had (which, frankly, is an extremely vague statement and could be applicable to more than one character in Cordonia). But there is urgency that, again, isn't properly explained in the scene. Even Hana's Valtoria scene doesn't have much that would explain why she would want a child barely weeks after her wedding. The Valtoria scene does have her outlining her dreams for the duchy (along with a joke about her enacting "Beauty and the Beast") and her happiness at the thought of being a mother (she maintains that out of the things expected of her, motherhood is the one she looked forward to). They could have spent some time thinking up a reason for why Hana would rush this, even before anything has happened, or outlined something personal and not ultra-generic. Both Maxwell and Hana deserved a lot better than this.

• Maxwell speaks about possibly forgetting diapers (PLS NO MAXWELL NO) and baby socks (um okay not as bad but depends on the climate), and one of the MC's dialogue options is to say..."diapers and socks are overrated". Guys your kid won't care how much fun you are when they have a bum rash.

• A-ha! Diamond scene. First-chapter diamond love scenes always come cheap in these series' (12 diamonds) and are usually quite a steal.

• ESTHER HAS NEW LINGERIE OMG I'M SO HAPPY I'D BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR SO LOOOOONG 😭😭😭😭

• ...and it is also matches Liam's underwear. Maxwell's too 😅

• The scene is nice, there are variations between the ways the LIs work up their appetite before they finally roll in the...well, sand 😅 Maxwell has what they call an "ocean duel", Hana's fulfills her lifelong dream of carrying and spinning around her wife on a secluded beach, Drake chases the MC through the water...and Liam just enjoys being a huuuge tease, okay? 😂

• Oh God, why are they still using the old LoveHacks sexytimes music. That "DHUM-boom-ta-doom-DHUM" beat drives me nuts, and not in a good way. You have better music now, PB! Like the sexytimes tunes from RCD and PM. Use those!

• My gosh this entire group is quite horny for dominant duchesses, aren't they. Every last one of them. Each playthrough has these four gazing at the MC in wonder and telling her some variation of "I think you ordering me around is hot". Olivia could trample over them all with spiked heels and they would thank her!

• As always, when something suspicious happens, my dumbass MC goes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and never thinks about it again until shit actually goes down. This woman will never learn, will she.

• Anyway! We now move on to the rest of the honeymoon, summed up in three-four varying scenes per LI:

(Screenshots: Liam's and Hana's screenshots are mine, Drakes is HIMEME's YouTube channel, and Maxwell's is from Kaitlyn Walker's YouTube channel).

- Liam: Focused and dedicated. And insatiable as hell. Sex on a bed (SHOCKING!), sex after his wife points out what could be an apple constellation during stargazing (the MC effectively killed Liam's boner for Cordonia, I see), sex after having chocolate strawberries at a sunlit pond, sex again on a bed (Why is he getting four? 🤔). While the staff is still around somewhere on the island. This is a man with a mission.

- Maxwell: Fun and playful - kind of a "let's live wild and do daredevilry while we can!" vibe. In one Maxwell and the MC cliff dive into the ocean, debating over the wisdom of such risky adventuring when they may possibly be having a baby. In another, the MC watches, concerned, as Maxwell eats a raw squid appetizer. There is a nice callback to Maxwell's House sigil - the kraken - when he tells her that a squid would never hurt a fellow squid. The third shows them playing Strip Monopoly in the comfort of their bedroom.

- Hana: Adorable, caring and looking through every detail. Hana's three scenes involve her showing the MC the sights around the sunlit pond (which Hana and the MC lovingly call the "Hana Lee Honeymoon Itinerary"), watching the sunset under blankets, and this little scene of them choosing sperm donors for their baby:

It's a nice addition, but it still doesn't explain why they couldn't have waited a few more months. Nothing has happened yet in the timeline of the story, the women are (they believe) finally safe and happy, and while Javier seems to believe that babies born to a couple that consists of two women pop out of nowhere, I'm hoping the denizens of their duchy will have at least a little more common sense (this is Cordonia, so "hope" is the operative word).

- Drake: Langorous, relaxed and contented. Stargazing on the beach (I wonder whether this was a nod to the meteor shower scene in Book 1), whiskey on a patio/balcony/whatever in the afternoon, and eating roasted pork by the fire. Plenty of sex but also lots of outdoors, which means lots of the stuff Drake enjoys doing.

• Aaaaaand it's time for sexy scene 2! The couple are now relaxing in bed on the last day of their honeymoon, and the LI proposes a momento in the form of a sensual photoshoot (which comes with artwork of the LI in their underwear, posing for the MC) The male LIs pose with their hands at the back of their heads, smirking at the camera, while Hana strikes a coy pose, leaning against her hand. It's a quick, fun scene that's supposed to squeeze as much alone-time out of the couple as possible, because from here on the focus may shift to other things. Basically this chapter is meant to be one giant (but largely safe for readers) smutfest. I like the artwork - it's different and I guess meant to be a little more realistic than the usual full-page art in the books (like the engagement and wedding photos with your LIs last book), which is why I think it takes a little getting used to. I know it took me some time!

• Maxwell got an underwear upgrade too!

• We've now come to the end of our honeymoon, our bags packed and ready for our return to Cordonia. The chapter ends with us seeing a "familiar face", who could either be Liam (if you married someone else, and he doesn't show any expression) or an unspecified person (if you married Liam, and he looks ultra happy). Now that could either be related to some paparazzi-related stuff, if the flash of light was paparazzi-related, or it could be a fake-out and he's actually brought along the rest of the gang to surprise you. Idk and I don't want to speculate too much on this, mostly because something more interesting caught my eye.

• So that's it for my thoughts on the scenes themselves! On to the "general thoughts" section.

• General Thoughts and Potential Theories:

- As a first chapter for a new series that is still tied to an older one, it worked. It mirrors the light feel and sensibility of TRR's very first chapter, in that both chapters build an illusion of a fairytale-like place, with hints of the darkness within emerging the next chapter onwards (in this series though - since we're already familiar with Cordonia - the darkness is lightly hinted at this chapter itself). In a lot of ways I think we're going to see a lot of parallels between TRR and this new series.

- Unfortunately, one of those similarities also includes the imbalance in the writing for the LIs. Specifically with Maxwell and Hana. It's the most glaring in the dinner scene, which builds for us the premise on which this entire book stands (the topic of pregnancy). There are ways you could have them make the jump from nervous about having kids to excited, if you tried - there are elements in their storyline that could have helped us understand their urgency.

- I played Liam's route first, and was happy overall with it but I still have my misgivings. The good in terms of Liam's story is that he gets importance because the story is also about him and his country, where we are staying. He gives us some very important details in his route, and personally I like that his role as Guide To The Intricacies And Nuances of Cordonian Society still exists...but you can't deny that there were things in his storyline which should have been addressed and never were. I hope those are addressed this book. If they do the same this time around, it will only be to their detriment.

- Also, I find it highly ironic that Drake is the one to mention Savannah and Bartie when it was MAXWELL who was more involved in helping her with the child. Sure, he was - as he confessed in that Valtoria scene - more the "fun uncle" type, but he was still pretty heavily involved. Still keeping track of what Savannah needed and what Bartie would want. In his own final Book 3 scene, Maxwell is shown having an amazing rapport with little Bartie, playing peekaboo with his nose. I can barely count scenes involving Drake and Bartie with the fingers of one hand. Why couldn't Maxwell reference that last moment in Book 3, drawing up some inspirational moment from it? Like spending more and more time with Bartie changed the way he felt about kids? Or maybe that Savannah or Bertrand said something regarding the joy children bring to him. Anything that gives us some idea of when this shift happened.

Maxwell may have been new last book. It may have been a struggle to know what to do with him last book. But that isn't the case right now. By now they should have settled in their writing of him and figured out ways to make his story make sense? To give him more depth rather than simply reducing the man to the court jester? Maxwell's story was supposed to be about him growing, the scene in Valtoria was supposed to be about wanting to be a good father for his future children but fearing he might fail...yet the writers have the same man say the exact opposite. Maxwell's family history was thrown away for no good reason last book, and was replaced by Savannah drama. There was more space given to Savannah's love story with Bertrand (which didn't NEED the entire book to gain fruition) and Drake (optionally) enjoying humiliating Bertrand. That time, energy and effort could have gone in building up Maxwell, getting an insight into what happened to the Beaumonts that they became so poor...but no. The only Beaumont that mattered seems to be Savannah (and we know exactly why). And going by the fact that they're going to force an entire wedding storyline involving Bertrand and Savannah down our throats, that still seems to be the case.

- Hana's is even more worrying considering that it was poles apart from the rest of the playthroughs and therefore SHOULD have had more thought. Yes Hana loves the idea of being a mother. Yes Hana loves children and has a nurturing nature. But the urgency is still the same as the others' in her playthrough, and it made absolutely no sense. There was a clear dissonance between their current situation and the rush these two were in.

Hana's deserved at least some more time in her dinner scene. Maybe one where she could speak about growing up an only child, with no companions and not even toys. She could explain the loneliness involved in having a small family with parents who gave her more duties than affection, and then speak about giving her kid a better childhood. There isn't even any discussion about which of them should be the person carrying (we know it will be the MC, but why it has to be her in their case is anyone's guess).

What the team have done here is give Hana the bare minimum, after an entire two books of giving her even less than that. I know I'll probably be judged for thinking negatively rather than being cautiously optimistic, but the fact is that the moment this team feels they can get away with tossing scraps or less than that, they can and will do it. It's not stopped them before: not from botching up Hana's storyline, not from giving Hana fans a reception full of goof-ups and shoddy writing, not from pairing her with her bully. Perhaps last year I would have been happy and grateful to see Hana and the MC calling each other "my wife". This time...I refuse to settle for just mere scraps. If you can give thought and care to Liam and Drake's storylines, you'd better be able to do the same for Hana and Maxwell, otherwise what's the point of reviving this book? What's the point of using Hana specifically in two of your ads as bait for your lesbian/bi/wlw fans?? Might as well let the entire series rot in the trash where it belongs in that case.

- I've heard theories about our child becoming heir to the throne, thanks to a possible future arc that may make Liam unable to have children. I personally hate this possible plot line for two reasons:

1. As it is the MC gets more importance than she deserves, whether or not she actually puts in the work. She becomes a front-runner during the social season even if she fails. She becomes a Duchess even if she lacks even the most basic skills, while Hana who has done way more than she ever had for the country gets nothing, not even a needle-point's worth of land. She becomes Champion of the Realm even if she is literal garbage throughout that book, when that title could have easily gone to Olivia or Hana instead if she didn't earn enough to get it. And now to have her kid be made an heir to the throne? For no good reason? Get outta here.

2. Forcing Liam into yet another storyline that is tragic and painful (and I'm pretty sure the writers will find yet another excuse to write a thesis on Drake Walker in the time they could be using to let Liam actually break down, or vent. If they couldn't be bothered to explore the man's feelings when his own father died, do you really think they will bother with him in this??) on top of whatever else he's had to experience so far? At this point I can do with less of that. I'm honestly sick of storylines that put Liam in very uncomfortable, painful situations with very little space for him to air out his grief. Give the man a fucking break. Let him have some breathing space to rule his goddamned kingdom, get him a fantastic therapist and get him better friends while he's at it. Pushing him into yet another messed-up situation when you've barely even scratched the surface with what his experiences have done to him, is really just drama for the sake of drama, nothing else.

- Nonetheless, since this is about a pregnancy and a future heir, I believe there will be plenty talk about succession, and about the importance given to fertility and children in Cordonian society. But as with the social season in Book 1, the engagement tour in Book 2, and the wedding + Unity Tour in Book 3, I believe the pregnancy itself is a frame story. The kind of story that justifies the glitz, the glitter, and the glamorous events...that can serve as a temporary gloss to cover the conflicts within. All while the inner stories reveals those conflicts, layer by layer (again, if it's done right. Book 3 is a good example of a great premise ruined by bad writing. I sincerely hope this book does not go in that direction).

- Remember those screenshots I put up in that dinner scene from Liam's route? About Cordonia's tensions with its neighbouring countries, and how the country may be viewed as vulnerable? I think that's where the actual theme of the story lies.

Books 1 and 2 mostly revolved around the illusion of Cordonia - the fairytale kingdom - before the MC herself is confronted with the tensions brewing within. Book 3 was about strengthening Cordonia through resolution of internal conflict. It was about learning about the intricacies of the country, its most powerful duchies, their histories and identities, Cordonia's messy, complicated history - to tackle the problems that lay within.

I feel like Book 4 would be taking a natural progression from resolving internal conflict to finally standing united as a nation against outside forces. Constantine - in his conversation with the MC in Shanghai - hints not only at groups within Cordonia that wanted to destroy the monarchy, but also foreign powers ("suffice to say there are those who envy Cordonia's prosperity...". Not the royal family's - but "Cordonia's").

Keeping a united front and showcasing strength through pride in the country - ergo 'patriotism', or perhaps 'national integration' since Cordonia is home to many different cultures and geographical locations (I originally wrote 'nationalism here, but now realize there may be negative connotations attached to that word in today's times: thanks @musicallisto!) is often viewed as an asset against alien forces. The MC is now a part of the monarchy/nobility, and will be irrevocably tied to the country's future - so it makes sense that she will now dig into the deepest and most intimate parts of Cordonia's history, and go several steps further in helping to unite the nation.

- Why do I theorize 'patriotism' or 'national integration' as being a theme? There are several reasons for this:

The Unresolved Storylines: We still have a ways to go in understanding Cordonian history. We don't know which other forces were involved in previous assassinations, and we don't have a clue what happened to Liam's mother. All we do know is that other people and groups that we have probably not even seen yet, may have been involved. Francesco (who also knew Liam's mother) and Xinghai, the only foreign delegates/visitors that we got to network with in Book 2, have minimal roles so far but SEEM to have had some influence when they were introduced earlier. Francesco particularly could have some sort of role to play, given what we were told about him in Book 2. Now would be a good time to explore why he needed contacts with these people (other than the fact that Xinghai is Hana's dad). It's possible that nothing will happen and we may not even see these two, or exchange any important information, but I'd still hope that there is some importance to their appearances in Book 2.

The Connections We Made In The Engagement Tour: Meeting Francesco in Capri was related to getting access to EU markets for Cordonian products. The engagement tour itself revolved around grabbing international attention towards Cordonian problems - one of which was the tsunami that hit Portavira, which we learn more about in Book 3. There is a possibility that these threads may be picked up in the future.

Both the above points hint at possible threats, or allies. At this point we can't exactly determine who is friend and who is foe, but it is clear that neighbouring countries - and indeed countries we have associated with in the past - will play a pretty big role in the way we view Cordonia, and in the way we direct the narrative of this country.

The Artwork: I love this part of my theory because it is the most based on actual evidence rather than guesswork. The idea of a nation depends as much on items of familiarity and symbols, as it does on history. It's why countries have national animals, anthems, fruits. Why art depicting national and local legends can often be considered almost sacred. The book has barely even begun yet, and already it is FILLED with all kinds of things symbolic to Cordonia.

Let's first take a peek at the cover art:

Now let's ignore Liam's and Drake's (busted) faces in this cover and focus on what the three are holding.

The MC holds a rattle in her hand, and the jewel within the rattle looks similar to a ruby, which has been associated more than once with apples in the story (Cordonia's most valued variety of apple is the Cordonian Ruby, Liam's wedding gift to the MC is a ruby in the shape of an apple. The same rattle shows up in the second cover [on the left] as well. It's a stretch, I know, but I've got better evidence. Stick with me).

Liam holds a onesie with a crown design on the front - and we know that "for crown and country" is a popular phrase, especially for toasts, in Cordonia. Drake holds out a toy lion: the lion is the national animal, and holds a place of pride in the national Coat-of-Arms. The throne on which the MC herself sits, is blue and gold - both considered national colours. That's at least 4 symbols related to Cordonia vying for our attention on the same cover!

I mean, even Book 3 had just two major symbols - the apple (related to Cordonia) and the phoenix gown (related to Valtoria) - featuring on its cover.

The biggest proof to me, however, is not the cover, but the loading page. To be more precise - what is written above that loading page. A number of Choices books (BB, for instance) write little factoids about the world they are building above the loading bar, which players can read while they're waiting for the chapter to load. This wasn't a common practice with TRR, but they've definitely started it now! Some of the commentary is usual stuff - about gaining advantages through outfits, welcoming you back to Cordonia, etc...but THIS TIME there are tidbits of information given to us as well. And 80% of those involve apples!

Here are a few I managed to catch. One fact on the importance of apples in Cordonian culture, two specifically on the Cordonian Ruby itself including a rare recipe, and two old proverbs (this isn't the only time we've heard apple-related proverbs in the books - in Book 3 for instance, Bertrand refers to their trip to Fydelia as 'slicing two apples with one knife'). Proverbs in general often give us an idea of what people within a region hold up as important, as so connected to their life experiences that they can use those familiar objects as motifs for things that they see in daily life (eg. proverbs in my home state, Kerala, often refer to things/animals we find locally: jasmines, coconuts, jackfruit, dogs, elephants).

The fact that the apple features so often and with such emphasis in the loading page itself - and we have already seen what this simple fruit means to Cordonia - indicates to me that this national symbol - and the idea of the nation itself - will be of great importance. Not only will we be exploring foreign relations, IMO, but we'll also be learning how to build a national narrative that will benefit and strengthen Cordonia.

What's also interesting is that the apple symbolizes fertility to the Cordonian people as well - the apple cutting ceremony during a wedding (as explained by Regina to Leo's fiancée in RoE) is "a symbol of the fruit the tree will bear - you being the tree, of course", and there are chances that the fruit may feature often within the context of pregnancy/having children as well.

• That's all for now, guys. I hope to write more and theorize more as the chapters progress! Until then, I hope you enjoy this one, and I'd love to hear what you have to say.

• I did the Hana screenshots for this chapter, since the first chapter allows me to play repeatedly within losing keys, but I won't be able to do so from Chapter 2 onwards. If there are any Hana fans out there who keep screenshots of scenes in their route and are interested in sharing, I'd love to hear from you and will definitely credit you for the screenshots I put up!

• If you'd like to be tagged in future QTs, please let me know! Tagging @nikkisha16 for now since she asked xD

• Until Saturday, folks!