#uh recommendations would be epic!!

[mingoooossii]

Library crush.

Seokmin x reader

Synopsis: In which his favourite book is actually a person.

Warnings:fluff, min being a goof ball(as usual), mentions of some authors(should that be a warning??),and yeah, that's it.

A/n: the synopsis sucks yo I'm sorry.

Seokmin wasn't a bookworm by any stretch of the imagination. Words on paper held about as much allure as a soggy napkin.

Perhaps it was the flickering image of a vintage library in a movie he watched recently or maybe a subconscious yearning for a different kind of escape. Whatever the reason, he found himself, standing awkwardly infront of the city library.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the doors, the hushed reverence of the place instantly washing over him. The scent of aged paper and leather mingled in the air, creating an atmosphere of quiet knowledge.

Rows upon rows of books lined the walls, their spines whispering untold stories. Seokmin, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information, felt a flicker of panic.

"Excuse me." a soft voice broke through his anxiety. A young figure stood behind a mahogany counter, your smile warm and welcoming. Your name tag read "...." "Can I help you find something?"

Seokmin, caught off guard, fumbled for an answer. He couldn't very well admit he was a book-reading novice venturing into uncharted territory. So, he did what any self-respecting charlatan would do – he lied.

"Ah, yes," he cleared his throat, feigning confidence. "I'm looking for something… philosophical. Maybe something by...Camus?"

Your eyes widened in surprise. "Camus? Excellent choice! Have you read 'The Stranger'?"

Seokmin, whose knowledge of Camus extended to a vague recognition of the name, mumbled something about "meaning to" while internally panicking.

But you, oblivious to his charade, launched into a passionate explanation of existentialism and the absurdity of life. Seokmin, surprisingly, found himself captivated by your enthusiasm.

As you expertly guided him towards a shelf overflowing with philosophical texts, He couldn't help but steal glances at you.Your eyes sparkled with genuine love for literature, and your smile radiated a contagious warmth.

He ended up leaving the library with a book on existentialism (one you had highly recommended), a head full of borrowed knowledge, and a heart inexplicably lighter.

The following day, Seokmin found himself drawn back to the library. He couldn't admit it, not even to himself, the lure wasn't the philosophical treasure clutched awkwardly in his hand but it was you. It was the prospect of seeing you again, of getting lost in the world of ideas reflected in your bright eyes.

His charade continued, his fabricated bookish interests intertwined with genuine curiosity sparked by your recommendations. He learned about dystopian novels, explored the fantastical worlds of fantasy epics, and even dabbled in poetry (all the while hoping you wouldn't ask him to recite any).

Days turned into weeks, and the library became Seokmin's unexpected sanctuary. He still hadn't finished the book on existentialism, but he did discover a love for the quiet company of books and the even more captivating company of you.

However, one day, disaster struck. As he was attempting a particularly dramatic recitation of Kierkegaard (butchering the pronunciation in the process), you appeared beside him, a pile of books in your arms.

"Interesting interpretation of 'The Dread'" You said, a smile playing on your lips.

Seokmin's face flushed crimson, embarrassment filling him."I, uh…" he stammered, the book clutched to his chest like a blanket. "I just, really love… philosophy?"

Your smile widened. "Min," you said, your voice gentle, "you do realize the book you're holding is actually a cookbook, right?"

Seokmin's face flushed. He'd been caught, his charade exposed. Shame burned in his gut, the fear of rejection looming large. He mumbled an apology, expecting you to laugh him out of the library.

But to his surprise, you simply chuckled. "Don't worry about it," you said, your eyes twinkling. "It was actually quite entertaining watching you struggle with existential angst over a quiche recipe."

Relief washed over him, warm and sweet. "You weren't… mad?"

You shook your head. "Not really. I found your enthusiasm… endearing. Even if it was a little misplaced."

A blush crept back up his neck, this time for a different reason. "So, you… you don't mind that I, uh, pretended to be something I'm not?"

"Honestly," You admitted, leaning against the table. "the library can get pretty quiet sometimes. Having someone, even a fake philosopher, to chat with is a nice change."

Seokmin's heart did a happy little jump. Maybe he wasn't Dostoevsky, but at least he wasn't a complete fraud.

"Well," he stammered, a newfound confidence blooming in his chest. "how about we skip the existential dread and move on to something a little lighter? Like, maybe grabbing a coffee sometime? You know, discuss real existential problems, like what kind of roast is truly the best?"

You chuckled, a melody more beautiful than any book he's borrowed. "I'd like that very much, Min. And hey, maybe I can even teach you the difference between a philosophy book and a quiche recipe."

[himbo-in-limbo]

Has any Yautja come to love a human?

Canonically speaking? Uh....it hasn't outright happened like we haven't gotten a straight up love confession or anything of a yautja and a human hooking up...(yet)

First off I want to state what IS canon about how yautjas view humans in general.

A majority think of us as cattle, and most likely VERY appalling.

They have stated that we are "soft meat" and compared to the tanks that they naturally are? Yeah we are :')

It's important to them to breed with the STRONGEST And most oomans will find it hard to impress a yautja without being in a near death situation 💀 and somehow survive said encounter

Also the fact that I think it's impossible to even crossbreed with a yautja so....

1 not being nearly as physically capable as them and 2 not being able to ensure a bloodline with them (that would be accepted in yautja society) ???

Again the odds of hooking up with a yautja are SLIM I'm talking 🤏 but in HALF

But of course we all knew that.

I guess the prime example of a yautja and a human even having CHEMISTRY was very much in Alien Vs Predator (2004)

I don't wanna go into too much detail since I recall their being a post about them somewhere on Tumblr

BUT the way they simply interacted with each other was just!!! Sus!!!

Sadly this movies script was cut VERY short due to the filming deadline the crew had and what we lost was some very cute Scar and Lex interactions!

Again I'm sure you can find an article about what the interactions were (bc I can't remember) but I remember them being a tad bit more intimate!

Even just the way they were staring at each other in this scene like yeah! Lex had proven herself to be a great warrior! But come on!

She earned his respect and he gave her an honorary marking! (If that ain't romantic idk what is)

But yeah again Scar being actively in love with Lex has never been stated as being canon I think? (God I hope I'm wrong)

They weren't even the first to have such a chemistry! The OG ship is of Machiko Nagochi and Broken Tusk!

Another instance of a human female proving herself to be a great warrior and a yautja marking her because she has earned his respect!

If you haven't read the original alien vs predator comics I highly recommend them!

I don't want to spoil anything regarding that epic story 🥺♥️

But yes that is all that I have on this topic

Everything else is just more speculation and fan canons!

I do love that Yautjas are simply just a natural threat to humans and id prefer them to stay that way!

I love that a majority of them would simply ignore humans and have little care for them unless proven otherwise! It makes earning the respect of one a big deal!

[impala-dreamer]

I've seen you talk about Radio Company before, and I've always meant to listen to their music, but I never got around to it for whatever reason (life? LOL). If you could pick one or two songs to listen to first, what would you recommend? (Not including "Sounds of Someday," since that was played on SPN, meaning ive technically heard it already. If you don't feel like answering this, no worries! I'm enjoying your writing! 😊)

Hello, my darling!! Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoy my work :)))

as for Radio Company...

It's hard to pick one or two songs overall because all three albums are vastly different in style and song writing. 'Keep on Ramblin'" is a full on country album. Vol.2 is very bluesy. Vol.1 is Jensen screaming about SPN and Cons and Misha for 10 songs lol So.. it's really up to your personal tastes. Don't go back to SoundsOfSomeday. IMO- one of their worst songs. lol

Anyway, in that vein, here are 2 songs on each album that I believe are the best and I go to before any other:

Vol 1 - "Bound" and "Off My Mind" are my faves, Cannonball a close third. (but Beka, those are Steve songs! no. they're RADIOCO SONGS AND STEVE IS IN RC AND A HUGE PART OF IT AND HE"S AMAZING ON HIS OWN WHY DONT YOU GO LISTEN TO 'SPOT IN THE CORNER' ALBUM AND TELL ME HE"S NOT AN EPIC MUSICIAN!?!?) oo, sorry. I get goin on Carlson and I can't stop lol

Vol 2 - "Anyway That You Want Me" and "Dead To Rights". Although, I will say, this is my favorite album and I enjoy every single song. So, just start with this whole album and you'll be happy ;)

Keep On Ramblin' - "Every Light" and "Ain't No Tellin'" are probably my top faves. "Right Kind of Trouble" a close runner up. Now, it took me a long time to appreciate this album but it's grown on me. It oooozes Dean Winchester's Swan Song and I love it. I really do. And try to listen to 'Every Light" without slamming the steering wheel on "Boooze and cheap tattooooos along the wayyyy" I dare you.

So, uh... yeah! I hope you dive into the great band that is Radio Company. Give it all a listen. It's really fun to hear how Jensen finds his true voice throughout the albums and how his songwriting grows. As I said before, I'm a huge SCarlson fan, so check him out too. "Between You and Me" is one of my faves by him. You won't be disappointed.

Happy Listening!

[loosesodamarble]

Hello senpai it's 🖤 anon. For oto-may

Can you answer 2, 24 and for 25- what otome games will you recommend me to play? (Seeing your pages makes me want to play them)

Welcome back 🖤 anon~! Always lovely to see you around!

Thank you for the questions. And thanks for waiting for the answers! I uh... kinda went off so I'll be putting the lengthy answers under the cut!

2) Otome I would like to play

Right off the top of my head, I'd love to dive into Collar x Malice Unlimited, Piofiore: Episodio 1926, Virche Evemore: Epic Lycoris, and Radiant Tale Fanfare!

However, seeing as those are fandisc/sequels and I still need to finish the original games, I kinda can't. Not without running into massive spoilers and being left totally confused at least.

And actually, Epic Lycoris and Fanfare have yet to release in English so even if I did already play through Virche and RT, I wouldn't be able to play them right away...

Okay okay! But for a title that isn't a fandisc, the only otome that is currently catching my eye is Cupid Parasite.

Which is weird because literally none of the love interests in that game have long, luscious hair which is my usual weakness. But the art looks good and the concept of the literal Greek Cupid working as a matchmaker for the most un-matchable men ever seems funny.

And I have a feeling that there would be more going on than just cringefail men making out with a Greek deity.

24) Favorite otome

I've mentioned Cinderella Phenomenon as a fave of mine before. So another one of my favorite otomes would be Code Realize: Guardian of Rebirth, as well as the two fandiscs Future Blessings and Wintertide Miracles.

I just... KJAHGIOAUEHTIAEHKJBELIGHEAKLJAEIUTHALEKTHA!

I really love the series! It did take me a while to really warm up to it but once I let myself get absorbed in the world and the characters, I got really attached. And with each entry into the series I played, the more I loved all of it. Cardia is such a sweet but strong-willed heroine. Several love interests stole my heart with their tragic stories. And for the ones that didn't leave me in tears, they were decent enough and good for getting a laugh out of me.

The side characters are pretty interesting too. Delly and Finis are like my baby brothers. Queen Victoria kinda talks down to Cardia and the boys at times but we can forgive her because she's kinda cool in how she's like "the kingdom and its people are my children, and a mother protects her children." Watson. Just Watson. He's a treasure.

The artwork of the game is beautiful too! UDAHGAEUHIAHR! All of them are winners in my opinion. ESPECIALLY HERLOCK! He may have needed to wait for the fandisc to get his route but it was made up for by all his cgs being LITERALLY THE BEST!

And the thing is, I love Code Realize so much that as I came close to completing the third game... All I needed was to read the epilogues of Wintertide Miracles and then I'd have the full stories and all the cgs... I was close to completing it and I paused and went "wait, I don't want the story to end yet. I want to keep falling in love with this game and the characters."

So I decided to delete my save data for all three games and buy other otomes to play so I could delay seeing the end of Code Realize's story. If I saw the ending, then the story would be concluded and I didn't want to imagine closing the book on Code Realize! AAAAAHHHHHHH!

I'm gonna replay Code Realize and actually see the epilogues of Wintertide Miracles one day. But not for a long time!

I just want the series to stay alive in my head with the ending just out of reach for as long as possible... That's how much I love it.

25) Free question: what otome games will you recommend me to play?

If you're looking to play an otome game, I'd suggest Cinderella Phenomenon.

It's free to play and available either through Steam or itch.io. The basic premise centers on a princess breaking a curse placed on her by a witch and along the way, she falls in love with a handsome young man, also under a curse. But even that base idea has a few twists to it.

Cinderella Phenomenon (or Cin Phen for short) is a straightforward, choice-based dating sim. And even light on how many choices you make. Not counting the Common Route (which is the section of an otome before you're locked for a single guy), you only make 21 choices total, three per chapter with a guy, excluding the final chapter which is either the Good or Bad Ending. Cin Phen is also nice in that you are allowed to have a guide, the Right Choice Indicator, to clue you in on when you've made a choice leading you to the Good Ending. It can be delayed for some choices and you can even turn it off if you want to play blind.

While I... disagree with a trope used in one route, all of the main characters and a good majority of the supporting cast are good, likeable people who each deserve a happy ending. No one is perfect and a couple show difficult sides of themselves at times but it makes the characters rounded and entertaining.

There are also dark themes like political corruption, emotional manipulation/abuse, and death. Though I'd still say Cin Phen is a pretty safe starting point when it comes to dating sim.

[sporesgalaxy]

WHEN I WAS PLAYING A NEW GAME OF SPORE I WAS WALKING AROUND AND A GIANT MONSTER CAME AND STOMPED ON ME AND CRASHED MY GAME (and deleted my save???) SO UM. IS THAT A FEATURE

Oh, an Epic creature! That's a normal encounter, actually-- the game crashing is not mutually inclusive to that, haha. Though, I remember Epic encounters crashing the game being a bit common when I played a lot as a kid.

There's also no autosave, so if you didn't manually save your game before that point, it's unfortunately normal that the crash would delete all your progress. Sorry :( All you can really do is remember to MANUALLY SAVE as OFTEN AS POSSIBLE.

(If you HAD manually saved and it still destroyed ur progress, I'd recommend looking online for bug fixes, because that's a Big Issue and I'm personally not sure what could cause it.)

I historically have just Not had crashes whem all the graphics are set to low, but I also understand that it's Ugly.

...actually, I mentioned that to a friend who also grew up with Spore the other night. He said he always played Spore with all the graphics set to max, and never had crashes. I joked that maybe they only tested the max and minimum settings, and he was like "actually that sounds like a reasonable game dev human error," so, uh, that's a theory to test if you want...?

[gideonthefirst]

3, 17, and i'll re-ask 16 to get whatever other one you meant!

3. What were your top five books of the year?

WAHOO! I like this one it's made me realize that I actually loved way more books this year than I was giving credit to. Let's say:

5. We Have Always Live in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Loved loved loved this one it's turned me into a big #ShirleyHead and also (along with Hill House) is responsible for some other takes I've had about books this year which I'll expound on later.

4. Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes on a Tribe Called Quest by Hanif Abdurraqib. Nobody's doing it like him. Only music writer I've ever read who is actually capable of communicating the music itself just over text, loves the things he writes about so strongly that it makes you as the reader love them too, beautiful beautiful collection and piece of work. A Little Devil in America would be on here too but I'm limiting myself to one book per author to resolve both this and the Nabokov problem.

3. When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb. First book I finished in 2023 and one of my all-time favorites :] It's so smart and so lovingly written and so complex and doing such fun things with religion and history and gender and also it's a fun and excellently-paced read. Recommend without qualification

2. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Well. It's Lolita innit

1. Stephen Florida by Gabe Habash. Would I argue that Stephen Florida is "better" than Lolita? Who knows. Depends on the day. But I did love it more than any other book I've read in recent memory. The most directly invested I've been in a story in a long time, spent huge stretches of it being so stressed out about multiple things at once that I had to pause every five pages to catch my breath. Stunning depiction of a deeply unlikable character who you still want to win an unwinnable situation. Hostile to any attempt of a reader to figure out what it "means" or is "saying". Fantastic commitment to character voice. Perfect ending that had me totally motionless and speechless for maybe ten minutes. Have never in my life been more disappointed to find out that an author hasn’t written anything else. Man. Nobody is doing it like that.

16. What was the most overhyped book of this year?

Sob really funny of Sarah to get Annihilation and you to get The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. This wasn’t my first answer because it certainly is less broadly overhyped than Annihilation but I haven’t heard a single other person have negative feelings about it and I’m baffled by this. It fell into such a constant and repetitive trap of overexplaining things to me, both exposition and description of things that were supposed to be scary, and it drove me nuts. It being the year of Ms. Shirley Jackson certainly did not help, since she really has the perfect balance of how much to describe something to keep it scary, which isn’t super fair to Mr. Jones but it’s true regardless. Plus I thought how it treated women was really strange (derogatory), which I would have cared about much less in a better book but in this one really stuck out and weakened it further. And overall I just did not at all really understand what it was trying to do, which could be on me but I’m certainly too annoying to admit it, the pacing did not work for me at All and it just. Ugh. Didn’t like it!!

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

I was kind of shocked by how much I liked Where Are Your Boys Tonight? but I have already talked about that one. So let’s go with The Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb. It wasn’t like life changing or anything but it was a much more fun read than I was expecting since last attempt I made I bounced off the narration style immediately. But despite its many many concessions to the great weaknesses of epic fantasy I still intend to read the sequel and I especially love how Hobb engages with, uh, pain and sickness and disability and how she refuses to let them fade away and seems to really understand the extent to which pain and extended sickness alter people. I’m so so so excited to get to the torture because of this

[honeysweetcorvidae]

hey would you like to do all the prime numbers for the ask meme too. :3

i WOULD i’m gods bravest soldier and i can answer questions

i am, like mango, going to put this under a cut, because good grief this is a lot of questions.

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

lol. I tend to have a general shape in my head for what the whole thing will look like when i do multichaps, but no, i wing it; if i allow myself to do an outline then it will be Done in my brain & therefore dead in the water

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

1) go on swingset, play music on shuffle 2) put that bitch in a Situation in my brain 3) enter fugue state 4) hit post

5. Do you like constructive criticism?

ehh. i am very sensitive, but from people i trust & when i have time to brace myself it can be helpful? most of the time i am just sitting here though. love 2 have fun and indulge.

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

fugue state.

genuinely, it’s just whatever feels best at the moment! I have a taste for outsider POVs, but what i do for things that aren’t that varies from story to story— WTA flips back and forth from chapter to chapter where playing heroes is scattershot, etc.

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

oh geez picking “favorites” is an ASTONISHINGLY difficult thing for me— i have read probably hundreds of fics in the shuake tag alone, and the things I like I like for different reasons, and my MEMORY is so terrible that the word ‘favorite’ fills me with dread— so I’ll go with ones I immediately think to recommend? for p5, @malevolentmango’s what you’ve already buried and everything or nothing at all are phenomenal (i am marking this as One because mango is sooo specialwonderfulthebest and i could just list everything on their ao3. god wait how could i not also shout out no ballad will be written)

and then there’s interminable ballistics, which rewrote my brain, first step, which is frankly ASTONISHING, killing care and grief of heart by @jortsbian, which made me want to tear down an office building with my nails(honorific), and so on and so on and so on. this is way more than three. @ceilingfan5 has some of the best taakitz fics out there, if you’re into taz.

i would also, of course, be remiss not to nod to the fic i’m most insane about of all time, my guiding light my life my joy my favorite most special little enormous incomprehensible sadomasochistic bug alien clown porn religious worldbuilding space opera epic, @birchbow’s price of forgiveness. i’m super normal about everything they’ve ever written for homestuck tbqh BUT PoF is my darling. (it’s NOT the one i wrote a whole real actual literary analysis essay about. but that’s because it’s too long.)

okay moving on. i did not answer this question correctly.

13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

uh. um. uh. does “don’t misuse punctuation too badly” count as a writing tip? man i don’t know i am an insane person about writing styles

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

if it sucks hit da bricks >:/. no but actually for real though, i tend to go out on my swingset, switch to a different project, or just Do Something Else for a while! i’m a big proponent of taking breaks.

19. What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

well,

23. Best writing advice for other writers?

please for the love of god punctuate your dialogue correctly

no, but sincerely— i think that the best possible thing you can do for your work is to write what you actually want to write. do the stupid self-indulgent bullshit! write tropey nonsense, write the same shit over and over in different permutations, who cares! if you love it it’ll show.

31. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

the characters make the plot happen and the plot makes the characters act? so i mean i guess characters, but they’re interminably linked.

37 I already answered;

41: Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

ha. hahahaaaa. according to ao3 i have visited price of forgiveness one hundred and sixty-seven times. i know i have read it logged out at least twice. so, you know,

43. Do you take a sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the “If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself” kind of person?

i like recovery! I like to see people brought down and still swinging, and then for them to be happy again after. so i guess the latter?

47. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

that’s between me and god

53. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

well it took me going back ~50 pages into my ao3 history to find PoF, and the last time i read it was in june, so i’d say i read more than i write

59. Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

everyone i know knows everything about me because I have cannot-shut-up-ever-disease, yes. my mom has been forced to hear the plot of my NG+ au.

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

I enjoy writing, and I like to have a community! when I’m not writing fic I write original stuff, and I miss the engagement when I do that, but it’s still the same compulsive joy, I think. I doubt I could ever just stop writing forever.

67. Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

independent ideas, generally! I am very bad at sticking to a prompt; my mind tends to wander ALL about the joint.

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

[LAUGHING]

(the answer is severe autdhd and being an extremely fast reader.)

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

um. uh. um um uh. someone told me the other day that i am a fizzy mocktail and i don’t know what that means but i’m gonna go with that. i think my style is pretty distinctive, and i know i’m a skilled writer, so I guess. that? and i mean who else would write quite so much deeply emotionally vulnerable tentacle content. really.

[taketwoinink]

WITCH AND WARRIOR... also mystify i am vv curious about both

OKAY OKAY OKAY- you asked about two of my favourite stories lol, prepare for an info dump

I am so freaking half sleep right now but if I don't answer this ask right now I'll sit on it for two months so we'll see how coherent I am and how much I get through before I crash entirely

Witch and Warrior is a story that was inspired entirely off of a piece of epic music I was listening to and most importantly, the artwork that went along with the music. It was actually two artworks smashed into one but you couldn't tell so anyway I wanted to write a story about two sisters (and tangent here but later I read a book with a similar but veyr different premise very good book would recommend if I can remmber the title of it)

I'm extremely insecure about the names I gave them but I'm also too tired to rename them right now so um um um um panik

We have sister 1, she's the older one, she's got pink hair (on the lighter red side), don't question it. Sister 2 is the younger one (like 2 years age difference), she's got blue hair (on the darker black side), don't question it.

Anyway so magic in this world was outlawed like thirty years ago before either of our peeps were born. And then was this giant purge to kill everyone born with magic. Those who lived fled to the outskirts of the kingdom but it's surroudned by a lotta lotta lotaa mountains so they settled in this inhabitable forest on the outskirts instead. THe forest is filled with a bunch of mutant, wild beasts, so the kingdom never settled it, but the magic users are desperate and they end up taming the beasts.

Welp the kingdom doesn't like that so they start this massive war to try to wipe out the last of the magic people once and for all (nevermind the fact that more magical people are still being born)

The problem is that they have to go the magic users, who have the use of A) their magic, B) the familiar terrain, and C) their mutant beasts. So it's less a traditional battlefield and more crazy bush warfare that I forgot the name of and so we end up in this unique situation where having more soldiers can actually hurt the kingdom's army because it limits their mobility.

Course, it's a big kingdom so they get lots of soldiers they don't really need, but they're resourceful and what do you do when you have too many resources? Throw them away.

But we'll get back to that in a sec

There's a bunch of different types of magical people

Witches - they're conjurers. they can make stuff out of nothing. all the stuff they make though will be made of the same stuff. That doesn't make sense. Like if one of them makes a spear and their thing is dirt, their spear will be made of dirt. only it won't literally be made of dirt, but it will look like it is. it's made of magic and the magic happens to look like dirt. it's different for every witch. one person might be ice, another stone, someone might lightning, who knows. Not super powerful, pretty good at hiding themselves, except their magic reacts when they come into contact with their thing. so if someone has the dirt thing, when they walk on dirt, the dirt will react to it. It uh- makes a lot more sense in my head. Like the most common type of magic to have, make up the bulk of the magic peep army. They fight in pairs so they can watch each others backs.

Sorcerers - elemental type magics. tend to be extremely powerful and wildly out of control. Get discovered quickly because their magic is hard to control. They sit at the back of battle fields and bombard the enemies. magic is not as good up close, can be dangerous. they're guarded by witches most of the time. very rare. the army focuses them specifically because they can do the most damage.

Wizards - rune based magic. very slow to cast, mostly used for traps or for not battle related things like growing crops, building, etc. They'll prep battefields in anticipation of the army and so the army sends out scouts to set off their traps before they attack. Uncommon ish? probably the second most common? very good at remaining undetected

Warlocks - summoners. they summon beasts and demons and such. will sometimes accidentally do so as children which gets them caught, but if they make it past then, they're good. tend to keep around summons trahter than summoning bunch of stuffs, bonds and all that. uncommon to rare(?)

pretty sure there was another one but I don't remember what it was... it's in my notes but do I want to go look at them right now?

oh hey I think the magic people are called the Coalition, so um yeah I'll refer to them at that. that's the magic people who are in the forest.

Mages - oh right! these are shapeshifters! they're not common. can make mistakes when imitating people. causes a lot of problems for the army cause spies and stuff. need to have identification things in place to make sure they don't get infiltrated

Gifters - not sure if they'll stay in the final story or not but they can grant people abilities but it slowly kills them

Anyway, so magic people are always the first born of the family. not every family, but only the first born will have magic if there is magic to be had.

so Sister 1 is SIKE the younger of the two (also they have a younger brother, who is probs like 5 years younge ror something). they did a switcheroosual with Sister 2 because they realized she was gonna have magic, like some prophetic dream or something, so in order to keep anyone from getting suspicious of her, they made her the younger child

The oldest is super important in this culture. they get all the rights, all the attention, all the glory. they inherit the house. other children are often overlooked and married off.

-- oh also objects can absorb magic over time, so old things are actually very valuable, they have to be well cared for and it just leaks into them can't really happen on purpose but yeah that's important

so Sister 1 is the one everyone is paying attention to going to events and stuff also they're nobility did I mention that? they're the house of Sayithmar um dragon themed crest I think? very highly honoured, very important, very rich, very close to the king.

brub okay I'm tired enough that I can't be insecure anymore so Sister 1 is named Omikiia and sister two is named Luesivra yes I know how to pronounce those no i won't tell you how don't make fun of me I was going through a weirdly spelled name phase and I got too attached

(infodumping while tired is very funa ctually highly recommend this is going far better than I expected)

Anyway so Omikiia is running the show but like their fathr does something stupid and he's gonna be executed for it and she's like "halt" and makes this deal with the king because he's known to like to gamble and so she says okay I'll joing the army and so long as I'm alive you keep my father alive but you can arrest him if you want. And the king's like well okay you'll both die this is fine and he accepts

So she goes running off to war and leaves Luesivra behind to suddenly run the place. And so for all intents and purposes, she is now the eldest child. also her father is gone and her mom is dying ooops so she inherits the estate and begins representing the family in noble affairs and yeah she is quite literally ruler of the house now.

Well so remember how I said too many soldiers in the army in actually a bad thing? But they have so many so what they do is they throw the untrained newbies at the sorcerers in the back because a lot of people die fighting them and it doesn't make sense to lose trained soldiers when they can overwhelm them with the fresh meat instead.

Omikiia figures this out pretty quickly. She doesn't want to die, she doesn't want her new friends to die

So there's this thing in the army

It's run by ten generals. There's the upper nine and then there's the one, known as the King's General. this is the guy in charge. the other nine generals are their support and advisors and all that jazz

Anyway, traditionally, anyone can challenge anyone else in the army to a duel. If they win, they get to take their position. Survival of the fittest and all that, strongest people make the rules.

In a desperate scheme to change things, she challenges one of the generals to a duel and oops she wins even though she's young. cause um, she a prodigey with the sword also her sword is magical so yeah taht kind of helps

There is, unfortunately, a rule that you have to be one of teh Nine for a year before you can challenge the King's General for their spot in order to prevent take overs like this, so in the meantime Omikiia starts weasling her friends into support positions, then she challenmges the King's General, beats him, takes over the army as the yougnest General ever, and starts changing things

She duels a lot of people to earn respect, kicks out half of the nine to replace with her own people while keeping the other half for their experience and stuff

So she basically takes over, yay!

Meanwhile Luesivra is trying not to die in the noble ranks and long story short she ends up engaged to the crown prince (who has an older brother from a previous wife of the king who was a commoner and therefore not eligible for her children to hold the throne because it must always stay in pure noble blood). She's like, really good in the court, people respect her, she's keeping her house alive, her sister is the King's General, suddenly this house that put itself on the edge of disaster is thriving, and the king who doesn't like his son very much wants to control that house and she kind of wants the protection of this marriage but also if either of them find out she's a witch, she'll be killed

oh yeah she's a witch by the way. I think I forgot to mention that

Luesivra is the witch, Omikiia is the warrior, hence the name of the story

Anyway, Mystify! Also known as Code Mystify, also known as my dearly beloved story, also known as the thing inspired off about ten seconds I saw of a video game I ahve never played, hence also being calld the video game story- yeah it's great!

umm I don't remember if you were there when I rambled about Wraith on the discord server but htis is her story!

So we have this country I think I called it something with an A or other I'll find it again in seven months probably

anyway they have something called the Aeon Games (yes the game has a name I forgot I named it not sure what I think but yep it stays for now) they call it the Aeon Stage sometimes yeah it's cool

basic rules for it that are constantly under revision. each player combatant etc whateveryawanna call them has a series of crystal-things that are set into their outfits. break all the things and they're out. or alternatively, you can kill them. or knock them out. or maim them. whatever you want really.

In one on one fights, which are uncommon except for show, breaking their crystals is how you win. in team fights which are the norm, there are checkpoints you need to capture. kind of like capture the flag I guess?

the stages are dynamic, with moving terrain, lots of varied land, each arena is different, yada yada

Anyone can technically sign up to try and get hired by a team but most won't be

The teams are made of eight players. Typically, you'll have three defending and the other four split into pairs to go on the offensive. does vary from team to team though.

So Wraith, for those who don't know, is like an S class player. She's the high of the high,the best of the best, everyone fears her and everyone wants her. she has the highest kill count on record, of both enemies and her own teammates. high casualty and injury rate in games with her. everyone on her team has to sign a thingie saying that like you can't sue the team if she kills you. Killing isn't encouraged but it's not forbidden.

She was on this team but due to inner drama (revolving around a well intentioned now ex-boyfriend who didn't communicate the most effectively) she left.

Well, there was this team who was in the lower ranks, playing on a local region level, known as Team Flashfire. And they were good, but they were also very low profile and the company who owned them didn't have the money to support the team for long. They weren't getting high enough ranked matches so they weren't getting much visibility and they weren't making enough money. the company declared bankruptcy and sold off their player's contracts (yes that is allowed but the players can also terminate the contract instead)

Well there's this other company, Mystify, who dabbles in the arcane magically thingies of the world and they're rich, very successsful, so hey why not they started a Aeon Game team because well- they can

So they bought the contracts off of this low profile team and ended up with three players (there were more, but some of them left) from that team. Mercy (known occasionally as Miracle but gosh darn her previous name stuck too hard), Terrablaze, and Sentinel. They all know each other and have played together before.

Mercy is unique in that she is capable of reviving people. This is unheard of. She can only do it within a several minute timeframe before their soul entirely disconnects from their body and they're dead for good. On the battefield, that's not a lot of time especially when you're actively being kept away from fallen teammates. She doesn't have to do it often, but it does make her extremely valuable. (completely unrelated but she gets a girlfriend with shadow powers later)

Terrablaze has elemental powers but like- they feel different vibe wise than most of mine but like functionally are the same. But mostly she actually fights with her guns and grenades that she customizes herself.

Sentinel has like, the ability to animate stone? also is sturdy. yep. He also is more weapon-based like Terrablaze, whereas Mercy and Wraith are more power-based in their combat styles.

there's more details there but my memory is fuzzed and I am tired

Wraith counts as two players because she has this soulbound companion, Ashes. Their powers are linked together, but Ashes is technically a separate entity with its own body so they count it as its own player, but they share a player contract. So in terms of recruitment, they're one, in terms of how many people you can submit to a game, they're two. It's complicated. She can bring shadows to life and they attack people and possess things and also she blip in between them. and probably other stuff, still working out the fine details.

That's five people, then they have two more, Chimera and Visage (illusion-y transformaton based powers + more charmy enchantress ish powers), who are these four foot tall lizard people, very cute, they're a married couple, I adore them.

that's only seven...

oh yeah, they have this other teammate but she dies so I forgot who she is. then they get this dude Hijink who has glitchy powers. he can glitch through reality (weird teleport thing) and disrurpt other people's abilities.

So, at first it's just the three from Teamflaze (flaze?? Team Flashfire wow) who get hired (for a tiny bit of information, Terrablaze was the 'team captain' of sorts and actually the person the team was named for. In the Mystify team, Wraith is the 'team captain' because she is the most experienced player by far)

Wraith has been a game player for eleven years. most people are only players for like five. high casualty rates also it's traumatic also it pays ludicrously so if they want money they get that quickly. If they're good, that is

The Mystify people actually only take the Team Flashfire because they wanted Mercy because her abilities are so unique. (she can also make this glowing gooy crystaly magically stuff. I'll draw it one day then it'll make sense) also working with Wraith it's interesting because Wraith is infamous for killing her teammates as often as she does her enemies (read: soul bound to a sensitive and extremely dangerous creature from another realm who has a very poor grasp on human emotions and cannot tell the difference between frustration, fear, anger, adrenaline, and generally being upset. Said creature's impulse is also to attack rather than wait out situations)

But Mercy can kind of bring people back so... for the first time in her life, Wraith has some leeway with her out of controlness.

She has a chance to make friends without killing them

Oopsies

anyway that's the gist of both stories. there is of course lots more but thanks for asking I'm gonna go sleep now I am so very tired I hoped this all made sense but before I go!!

Have a little snip of sixteen year old Wraith struggling at social functions while Ashes is Not Helpful. (For additional context, Wraith is from another country and she is still very unfamiliar with the culture and language of this place. This is a party thrown by game players that her team got invited to. Ashes just doesn't do people. Oh also Wraith has a tail and horns like maybe I should mention that)

She dodged elbows with significantly less grace than she dodged attacks in the arena. She was so focused on not accidentally touching anyone that she kept backing up into clumps of people. She scuttled away immediately every time, before they could drag her into a conversation.

She had to keep her tail tucked against her legs to prevent it from being stepped on. Someone brushed their fingers through her hair as she ducked past; the thick, silky fibers slid from their grasp like water in a closed fist. Wraith still yelped softly.

Despite how she’d grown physically, she still felt painfully aware that she was the youngest person here.

Laughter boomed around her, as loud as the bangs of guns in the arena. The concentration of people did nothing to disperse the sound. It echoed off of bodies just as well as walls.

“Eyy!” Someone draped his arm over her shoulder. She moved to flip him over and crack his skull open on the marble floor but- Oh- Swagger.

He moved with far less grace than his name would suggest, leaning heavily on her while his other hand swished a glass around haphazardly.

“Wraaiiith!” He drawled, spilling pungent breath out of his mouth and all over her face. She stiffened, wishing it was considered as appropriate to break arms to escape outside of the Aeon Stage as it was within, “I’ven’t seen you all day!”

“I saw you an hour ago,” she pulled gently away from him. His weight followed her, balancing him dangerously in her arms. She reluctantly held him up so he didn’t fall. He was her teammate after all.

And considering how many of them she’d- she’d-

A little kindness was the least she could do.

He waved a hand aimlessly, “Pfst. Here! ‘Ave a drink!”

He inserted a cup into her free hand. It was full of a dark red liquid that smelled about as good as Swagger did.

She didn’t like him very much.

“I don’t want it,” she tried to say but he pushed her hand more forcefully towards her face. She stumbled back, releasing his weight in order to steady herself. Her tail lashed wildly, banging into legs and unintentionally moving the crowd away from her.

And sure enough, Swagger crashed gracelessly to the floor.

Lovely.

His nose cracked upon meeting the unforgiving surface and spat out blood angrily.

Wraith’s stomach churned unhappily at the sight, but it wasn’t anything she was unfamiliar with.

“You are drunk,” she decided, despite not knowing what that meant; it was what everyone else said to him when he got like this.

She looked around for a spot to deposit the drink he’d given her. They were always served at these parties, though she’d never cared to try one. She’d eat when they got back to the player quarters.

She handed it off to the first hand she saw: Ashes’, and knelt to help Swagger up.

“‘Mfine,” he mumbled disorientedly, swaying on his feet as she lifted him, “tis a scratch.”

“It is your nose,” she corrected.

“Mhat’s wat I said.”

She set him up so he was standing; he continued to cling to her shoulder for support.

He shook out his hair, completely ignoring the blood that went flying from his nose. It looked decidedly crooked.

He broke it.

“Ashes, can you- help… me?”

The creature in question was munching on the remains of the cup she’d given it. Its ears rose inquisitively towards her.

She ignored how the glass would probably come back up in a steaming, liquified puddle in the middle of the night and she’d have to clean it up. “Can you help me carry Swagger over to Surgha and Glarald?”

Ashes slurped down the last of the glass. Swagger gave an intense shudder at the sight of it sliding down the creature’s translucent throat membrane. Wraith ignored him and heaved him towards her companion, who obediently maneuvered its way underneath him, so he was now draped over Ashes’ back instead of Wraith’s shoulders.

“Thanks,” she pushed her hair, which was beginning to fall out of its braids, out of her face and stood up straight, “Do you see them?”

Ashes nippled on the edge of Swagger’s jacket, eyes trained on Wraith attentively. It gave no outward reaction to her question. The only indication she had that she’d been heard were the specks of excitement and curiosity that wavered through their bond.

“We’re not doing anything fun,” she warned.

Ashes yipped disappointedly.

“I know,” Wraith soothed.

“S’why you follo’d by ‘at ‘hin anyway?” Swagger muttered deliriously, “mght be a demon or smthng.”

The crowd seemingly took one glance at Swagger’s bleeding nose and another at Wraith, before deciding this was normal and moving on. She watched with frustration, unable to get a glimpse of any of her other teammates over the bobbling bodies and heads. No one stopped to help.

[konstantintreplev]

getting to know you meme

tagged by @menocchio-final-final, thanks!

three ships:

i would say morse/thursday but now i am deeply invested in the complication and fully fledged person that is miss joan thursday, and it's a whole mess, and i wrote 30k of a t4t thinly veiled joan/morse/thursday novel in a week and a half,,,, sorry i AM on my bullshit

uh... no. 2 has to be chrisjen/sadavir, who i've learned as of late i can still write lol, and i know how to make gifs better now so if i lose my mind on their shit again... this is a warning (they're both war criminals, she's just friendlier [hotter to some, they both burn with the power of a thousand suns to meeee] and on the right side of things in the timeline of the SHOW)

and finallllly... molly/margo from for all mankind, but really, molly/anyone from for all mankind, because like. i'm sorry she fucked that whole cast.

(honorable mention: brightlove... god i hope trewlove did eventually get to give that old man his first hickey)

first ship: do you mean first ship i knew was a ship, or thing i thought would be neat w/o the vocabulary? regis/whit from adventures in odyssey. yes, nine year old or whatever elias was deeply invested in these two old man arch-nemeses battling it out with their tongues in defiance of the Holy Spirit.

amen.

last song: "online" from the westworld s1 soundtrack

last film: ...does the PBS documentary i half-watched on the suffrage movement count (the part i watched was 2 hours long)? OH WAIT their doc on terrence mcnally (which was epic, highly recommend, RIP sir)

currently reading: supposed to be reading hands of the emperor (re-reading) ...uh but i've been on a break. i should just pick up at the feet of the sun, at this point, right? (the sound you hear is towm's eyebrow raising)

currently watching: let's just say endeavour and copious amounts of american experience docs

currently consuming: coffee... and water (bless)

currently craving: my (return!) trip to london with my friennnnds the flight for which i will be about to board exactly a week from now

uh tags... @tiltedsyllogism, @bryndeavour, @ronniebox, @sandfordsmostwanted, @mr-iskender, @mcgstarroar, @spinelesswrites

and do it if ya want to! or not.

[sarandsaffitz]

Hi! Here's my face! I'm Sara of sarandsaffitz!

Blood Orange and Olive Oil Upside-Down Cake, p. 67, Dessert Person by Claire Saffitz

Made on 01.20.2024

Did you know yesterday was the last day Pluto was in Capricorn? Which is like a 250ish year phase? We are in a long shift - uh oh I'm starting to believe in astrology to just have something to believe in!

This is epic, I've been gone so long and I am just excited I finally got to the cover cake. I've been making all of these vegan and it's not always easy. This one is dairy free (it uses eggs), easy enough to swap out those eggs for flax eggs!

Make it vegan!

Swap three eggs for three flax eggs (3 tbsp flax seed + 7.5 tbsp water)

Tips:

-This partly took so long for me to jump back into my project (several months) because blood oranges weren't in season yet. I highly recommend waiting for them if you can!

-We had a tough time cutting really thin cuts off the blood orange, make sure you have a sharp knife and lots of oranges to practice on

-Some of the liquid seeped out of the springform pan when we made this, we put a container to catch any other liquid that would seep out and it still came out great. The only thing I wish I had done was save some of the sugar/orange juice liquid to add to the top at the end

I have to thank Caroline for being my sous chef! I really enjoyed the cake with some Forager vanilla bean yogurt - Matt gave it a 6/10 when you eat it with yogurt. But that was the earliest we could eat it, Claire does say it gets better with age, so we ate some the today and agreed it was already tastier.

Thank you also to Claire for making such a cool book, I've pushed myself in new ways during this project and I'm just really glad to have done it thus far.

Next up: Brioche Pigs in a Blanket!

[patricia-von-arundel]

I was a bit bummed out by Engage but with all your post on it I tried the older FE games, and it's really great so far! Do you have any recommendations or favorite characters? :D

Nice! I'm loving Engage, but that's very related to (1) nostalgia, and (2) liking a game more battle-focused after Three Houses' story-focus. (It's nice to have best of both worlds on one system!) What have you started playing?

If you're just looking to learn the ropes of FE gameplay, both FE7 (just "Fire Emblem" outside of Japan, the first released elsewhere) and Awakening are decent starting points for the general structure. Both also have really solid characters and simple-but-fun plots (which are handled without the over-the-top dramatics of Engage). FE7 outside of Japan has added intro chapters to help players get used to the genre (where your "lord" is Lyn, before Eliwood and Hector are introduced as the lords for the original game). The translation is a little uneven sometimes (and sloppy at others), but it's a very solid introduction if you have access to a GBA/DS/DSLite (or want to emulate).

Awakening is easier to get access to (since it's more recent and on 3DS), and is also a nice, solid intro to FE gameplay. It also has more bonus maps/DLC that extend gameplay and let you nab extra characters (both from older games and from Awakening itself). Honestly, Awakening seems likely to remain my favorite game in the series: it's just all-around fun. Good plot (if not a complex one), great characters (and DLC to flesh them out more), fun gameplay, multiple difficulty options, and some DLC that lets you obtain ways to boost levels/supports/money/weapons/classes, if you're into that. I've put in close to 1,000 hours in Awakening - due to the support system, there are all sorts of ways to mess around with how you play the game and use certain characters.

Sacred Stones (FE8, the second released outside of Japan for GBA) is a lot of fun, and has a brief route split if you like to play more than once, but if you want to try a GBA game, FE7 is probably the better starting point, for the Lyn chapters. (Especially because managing the convoy and items is clunky in the GBA games compared to later ones, so the intro chapters help before you have to figure out inventory management and gameplay!)

Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn (on Gamecube and Wii, respectively) had the most complex plot since Genealogy of the Holy War (which was not released outside of Japan). The problem with them is that they are all but impossible to track down for a reasonable price - both bombed spectacularly at release, so copies are scarce. Emulation is usually the way newcomers to the series go if they want to tackle the Radiant games.

Shadow Dragon is a remake of the very first game, but it hardly added anything beyond updated portraits and battlefield grids so you don't accidentally wander somewhere where you'll get your butt kicked if you mathed wrong. 😅 It's on DS, and I'm honestly not sure how easy it is to find now. It sold so poorly that FE12 (a remake of FE3, Mystery of the Emblem) once again was Japan-only. Which sucks, because FE12 actually beefed up characters and plot! Shadow Dragon would be a good place to get the hang of gameplay, but its story is more Final Fantasy 1 than Final Fantasy 6. 🤷‍♀️

If you can't find (or emulate) FE7, Awakening is a solid place to start. It eases you into gameplay, lets you grind (either for free, especially if you play on Normal, or with paid DLC), lets you choose Casual (no permadeath - characters come back next chapter if "killed") or Classic (permadeath - pick a god and pray) and has, in purely mathematical terms, an epic buttload of characters to choose from if some *cough*Vaike*cough* aren't to your liking. Just, uh... listen to Severa. Trust me. Listen. To. Severa. You can thank me later.

Fates has fuuuuuun battles and some really amusing joke weapons (it's Azura with the broom! But wait - wait! She's out, she's out, Jakob came in from the side with pebbles! Victory! Victory to the angry butler!!! 😱), but the plot and some other stuff is... well. The monkeys with typewriters were going to manage Shakespeare, but then they ate too many pot brownies and we got Fates instead. Have fun killing goo daddy with your flaming chainsaw sword! Fates also has three different routes, which can be a bit confusing if you don't know how they differ. (Birthright is the "easy" route, Conquest will kick your ass six ways from Sunday and add a seventh kick at chapter 10, and Revelation was written frantically after the monkeys demanded a union and walked out of the job.)

Shadows of Valentia is the last of the 3DS games, and a remake of the second game (Gaiden, never released outside of Japan). It's... weird. Fully voiced, which is very cool (especially since the cast is solid), and has some interesting twists on the FE formula (like dungeons and Mila's Turnwheel, which lets you go back a number of turns without having to restart the whole map), but the plot remains pretty early-90s-JRPG, and they opted to keep in a fuckton of water maps and desert maps that are insanely tedious. Reclassing also feels a bit clunky after the relative freedom of Awakening and Fates. It's definitely well done, but I wouldn't recommend it as an intro to the series.

Same goes for Three Houses: except for the way the battlefield functions, it is very different from the other games. It is darker, attempts more complexity than it should have (at the expense of some plotpoints left dangling in all routes), and has four different routes that, with one exception, force you to choose the route after a single battle and barebones intro to the characters. It also has a loooooot of stuff you can micromanage and/or waste time on and a weird (by FE standards) recruitment system. Great game, all four routes, but a little more than Intelligent Systems could juggle. (This is especially obvious if you pick the Black Eagles.) It's also quite easy, by FE standards, outside of some paralogues (side battles) and the DLC (which was very, very simple compared to Awakening, Fates, and Shadows of Valentia, though a lot of fun if you like a challenge!).

Awakening, Fates, Shadows of Valentia, and Three Houses (like Engage) all give you a choice of male or female avatar, and Casual or Classic mode. (Fates also has Phoenix mode, but ew. No. Bad.) All also have DLC. With DLC in mind, remember that the 3DS eShop goes down for new purchases as of the end of March of this year. If you get Awakening, Fates, or Shadows of Valentia, buy the DLC now if you think you'll want it! (It adds new characters, new weapons, some additional lore and/or character development, and some silly stuff like beach chapters. 🤣)

Honestly, if Engage is all you've tried, I'd say go with Awakening (the game Lucina is from) or FE7 (where, as mentioned above, Lyn is from). Your call! Both are good intros without so much management and bloat they get overwhelming. And none of the choices you make will drastically alter the rest of the game! Awakening should also still be easy to find, compared to what came before.

Favorite characters? Pegasus knight has been my favorite class since I started playing, and my all-time favorite character is Cordelia. I also love Ninian, Rebecca, Lyn, Serra (all from FE7), Eirika, Seth, L'arachel, Lute (all from FE7), the Whitewings (Palla, Catria, and Est, who are in FE1, 2, 3, 11, 12, and 15), Caeda (FE1, 3, 11, and 12), Nephenee (FE9, 10) Olivia, Inigo, Severa, Lucina (FE13), Laslow, Selena, Soleil, Reina, Flora, Jakob (FE14), Mathilda, Clair, Mae, Boey (FE15), Edelgard, Dimitri, Hapi, Lysithea, Constance, Ingrid, Seteth, FERDINAND VON AEGIR (FE16), and I'm still deciding on the new game, but Chloé and Etie are great thus far in what I've played. If I had to pick top three of all time, I'd probably go with Cordelia, Inigo/Laslow, and Edelgard.

There are a handful of spin-off games (Fire Emblem Heroes, two Warriors games, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE), but they're all very different from the core of Fire Emblem proper. Fun, but not a good intro to the series (and like Engage, they rely on knowledge of past games/characters).

Longest answer ever, but I hope it helps you figure out which way you'd like to go next! You may enjoy Engage more when you know the Emblems better. 😁

Happy strategizing!

[the-path-to-redemption]

I wonder if i should get into rwby? I like sun wukong in any media he is but i wonder if its worth seeing him in rwby despite from what i heard is that in here: sun is his actual first name instead of it being the last name here in rwby

Or do i just stick to fanfics?

I am v fascinated by this sun wukong tho from readin your blog: it seem better if someone else took over this character (imo needs more JTTW esque lifestyle like him being wandering pilgrim and he takes care of ppl who he considered his family like the actual sun wukong from the novel)

Idk so do i?

cont.

Same anon that was asking about rwby sun wukong. I just think its neat if by having a character that has tie to sun wukong, he should share more similarities(or a bit of history) from the monkey of his namesake. Like for example he found a book called jttw (within rwby universe) that detailed how in a pilgrimage a human was traveling with a group that had a monkey in it and they were a family and our sun idolize that monkey and took up his name as his own. Or him got tired of ppl not calling his name right so he just lets them called him by sun(here it be his last name). Idk small details like that but idk much of RWBY besides my knowledge of JTTW and sun wukong.

Long post ahead

Oh boy, anon. are you in for a ride.

You're right that if handled by anyone else, RWBY's interpretation of Sun Wukong as both an allusion and as his own character would've been so much better and I would've liked the route of him being a traveling Huntsman in the world of Remnant instead of being a team leader to a team that half of the members doesn't even like him. It would've made a lot of plot holes and unsavory writing decisions about his character in the books nonexistent.

However, the context of humanoids with animal features in this show relates to a racial subplot that was handled like SHIT. This isn't against you anon, but to have Sun read and idolize a monkey-humanoid entity like the OG Sun Wukong with this context in mind would raise A LOT of issues.

For example, the author of that book (spoilers) would not possibly exist pre-cleansing where humanoids with animal features cannot be found (that's after the global boom boom), so the author would be writing an epic with very racist ideologies in the context of racism in Remnant (comparing Faunus to animals is racist). And uh, yeah.

Please understand that I am highly biased against the show's many decisions involving its writing, but I did very much enjoy its 3 beginning volumes, where the writing and choreography were slightly better and could be excused as "the starting point" of something greater. Hell, that was why RWBY even got some relevancy in Japan and China with the two official mangas, manga anthropologies, game crossovers, and dubs. But I wouldn't recommend it to you, who want to experience a good Sun Wukong-inspired character.

That being said, please make your own decisions if you decide to check RWBY out. I recommend watching Volumes 1-3, or at the very least a famous fight scene between Sun and an antagonist, Roman Torchwick, here.

I wish you the best of luck, and I'm sorry if this answer is lackluster due to my own gripes with this show.

[riddlesandlies]

I, uh, don't have many people here that I know, and you ask me for nine people that I want to get better? Thanks for the tag, @quotesandmiracles, but this part of the chain dies with me >:3

Three ships

Orpheus and Eurydice in Hades (because of the music, of course it's because of the music, I will always listen to Darren Korb's tracks with reverence), Hound/Sandor Clegane and Lady Brienne from Game of Thrones (they have one scene in which they fight, and one scene in which they talk about why they fought and that's it, I want more of these two idiots trying to kill each other for whatever knightly reasons) and finally Christoph and Darell from Kindret (a relatively obscure russian book from 2006) (this is just the best kind of platonic friendship - two dudes helping each other through all the hardships, they are intimate through shared passion and grief, Chris even going as far as to excorcise a god rather than kill it on an off chance that Darell might survive, just mwah, dudes being bros to the grave and beyond)

First ship

I don't do fandom, but the earliest relationship I can remember that I can reasonably point to and say "I ship it" is Roy Mustang and Liza Hawkeye from Full Metal Alchemist. It's a fun one - romantic relationships didn't make a lot of sense for me, most of them just registering as "a plot device to make two characters care about each other". This justification was so pervasive in media, that whenever two characters of opposing sex have two much tying them together, I awaited a kiss scene like one would await a dentist's appointment - with hope that it comes and passes without much pain. It never happened with those two and it was such a relief that they kept it in character - business only. And yes, I'm calling lieutenant Liza, this is the hill I will die on.

Last song

I almost always have background music, even now as I'm writing this. I can't sleep, which means whatever relaxed epic I liked the most recently, which is Crimson Crown by Swallow the Sun, pulled right out of the depth of Spotify, cursed be its name.

Last movie

Either Nimona or Banshees of Inisherin, and I don't think I can figure out which. Nimona is Nimona, you know it. Banshees is not what I expected of it, but still very enjoyable once you become comfortable answering the questions it poses.

Currently reading

Congregation by Nadezhda Popova, recommended to me by @reflingthefox. The protagonist, a newly appointed inquisitor and investigator on his first case, is such a relatable character to me in the way he thinks and overthinks and spirals into his thoughts, never quite sure if he's doing his best. A nice book to have when you need to kill some time.

Currently watching

Elementary, yet another retelling of Sherlock Holmes, in which he's a recovering addict, and Joan (!) Watson is his sober companion. I'm just a sucker for hyper intelligent detective protagonists, I'll probably watch Mentalist next someday.

Currently consuming

Uhhh, tea shroom, which is just a basic combucha, protein shakes, and whichever soda finds itself in our fridge

Currently craving

More intimate, quiet time with my boyfriend, more opportunities and energy to meet him

[maxwellpaws]

A review of Farrah Abraham My teenage dream ended (Album)

Hello everybody and welcome to my review (I'll come up with a punchy name later) of Farrah Abraham's my teenage dream ended.

Now I'm not going to go too in depth about her history all you need to know she was on 16 and pregnant and made this album and it's infamous for sounding like..that some people have criticized it for it and some people have defended it claiming it's great outsider art and can be seen as a prototype of hyperpop, which I can see the argument for both and it also peaked my curiosity which is why I went out of my way to listen to it and it inspired me to make this post.

Lets get started!

(note I recommend to listen to the songs I’m talking about while reading links will be provided)

Song 01: The Phone call that changed my life.

I quite like the instrumental to this song it sounds like the final level of a winter themed DS platformer, Farrah's vocals on the other hand, the fact there overly auto tuned isn't that much of an issue to me it's the fact that I don't think she's a good singer.

At least I think she is singing because the beginning of the song she is speaking and that's also auto tuned as hell.

Also I hate the lyric "I can only put so much in a song" it's up there with "this is my song I'm singing it now" line from the Snow white and the seven clever boys in being a stupid opening.

5/10

Song 02: After prom

I quite like the instrumental for this too and the shh! don't tell part. Farrah's vocals on here are good mostly because they are muted.

tough the second verse it sounds like she's kinda tumbling I don't know how to explain it, also this is prime animation meme material.

definitely the highlight of the album.

9.5/10

Song 03: Caught in the act.

Like the fist two songs I enjoy the instrumental (mostly the drum beat in the beginning) it too sounds like a level in a DS platformer (a mini boss perhaps?) At first Farrah's vocals weren't that bad.. but then she started rapping I don't like it.

6.5/10

Song 04: Without his ring.

The instrumental is okay it's a mostly piano piece I like the guitar and especially the chorus

 Farrah sounds really out of place here until the drums kick in epically in that middle part were the guitars disappear, so far this is the most fitting she has sounded with the music.

but overall not my favorite and the "I keep making mistakes I need to make more mistakes"

Is also just as dumb as "this is my song I am singing it now"

3/10

Song 04: Liar liar

I like the instrumental especially the choir and the synth (tough the guitar loop is kinda annoying) Farrah's vocals are there.

sadly this is a vocal heavy song, and again she barely fits in, and I would actually would be surprised if she could actually sing at all.

I was originally going to give this a 8/10 because I like the instrumental but I hate the vocals here, plus I think it went on a bit longer than it should have.

And a later song is basically a better version of this.

7/10

song 05: Unplanned parenthood.

Okay so with the other songs I didn't really care about the  title but with this one just makes me think of Myspace scene furry breakcore type stuff.

Kinda wish it was like that.

The instrumental I quite like especially the beat and synth, And Farrah's vocals are there.

one of my favorite things about the instrumental of this is the little high pitch celestial synths, and the long synth at the end.

7/10

Song 08: Searching for closure

I like the instrumental for this, especially the cho-hey wait a minute!

This is a better version of Liar liar I was talking about earlier which makes sense thematically, in liar liar she was mad at the dad of her child and I guess she moved on in this song (I think IDK he's dead)

I believe the song takes place at his funeral which if that's the case the instrumental is very fitting.

Uh anyways this is better version of Liar liar and Farrah's vocals are there.

8.5/10

song 09: On my own

I like the instrumental and in general this has my favorite instrumental in this album.

sadly this is the song were Farrah's vocals are a bit more distracting and keep going back and forth between actually fitting and not fitting.

I'd rate this a 10/10 if it wasn't for the vocals.

9.5/10

Song 10: The sunshine state.

I love the sad computer game at night PRS  synths at the beginning and the beginning beat is good until the drop

after that it becomes the following:

Sonic the hedgehog getting shot

Barbie fashion show for the wii

Dubstep

Is that spongebob music?

I think they sampled spongebob background music.

The only thing keeping this from being a 0/10 is the begging.

2/10

Song 11: Finally getting up from rock bottom

Were finally at the end, will this albulm end on a bang or a whimper?

This song is the "best" one on the album in the sense that she actually fits in with the song and isn't either being distracting or being drowned out,

The instrumental is okay not exactly my favorite but is has it moments (specifically in the middle)

but in my opinion it ended on a whimper.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I like certain aspects of it but over all it's just there, honestly part of me feels like it's kinda over hated like I wasn't really aware of music discourse in 20012 but from little I know of it I suspect  that  it acquired that a bit of it's infamy is the result of the backlash to auto tuning.

DO I RECOMMEND IT?

As a weird novelty to show your friends yes, but for actual listening unless you can find a vocaless version no.

Instead I recommend you go to the Youtube channel Phillip J. Fry II and listen the OSTs for DS and PC games they have uploaded.

My recommend pick would Garfield's nightmare (DS), My Little Pony; Friendship Gardens (PC), Barbie; 12 Dancing Princesses (DS) and Bibi Blocksberg; Der Verhexte Schloss-Schatz (DS)

Tune in next time to see me talk about the OST for the creatures PSX/PS port!

[nebuvoid]

Hey it's the devilman anon again back from the trenches... I finally finished devilman lady and I'm sure you've talked/heard about it a thousand times but I can't help but want to complain about it sorry it's just SO MUCH

99% of the story feels completely pointless? Why even have Jun and Asuka as protagonists at all? Everything would be so much easier (AND SHORTER) if it was just Akira in hell and stuff. Go Nagai would have to come up with some other way for the earth to get destroyed and for Hell to open up sure but that couldn't possibly be more difficult than what he actually did.

Also the way Akira came back was so unnecessary what the fuck. I had already skimmed that post you linked that explained what happened in the manga so I was aware of what was coming but it still didn't stop me from getting slapped in the face with Akira stating that the woman he had sex with was now his mom. That sex scene between them was so bad too, Jun was having PTSD the whole time... Not that I would expect any sort of healthy sex scene from Go Nagai at this point. Can't believe this old man really made me read volumes upon volumes about his sexual assault kink.

Of course the amount of rape and nudity is awful and unnecessary but that goes without saying I think. The lore stuff was ok I guess but not enough to make this worth it. The art was certainly much better than the original which is nice, but I still kind of miss the wonky artwork. The fights felt sort of lacking tbh, they were over way too quickly.

I also thought it was so funny how like midway through Go Nagai just does whatever and starts retelling Dante's Inferno. Fuck it. (Guy who has only read The Divine Comedy writing his manga:)

This got so long uh. Yeah bad manga would definitely not recommend but I'm somewhat glad to have read it just so I can trash it with confidence.

Oh just one more thing. So funny how he made Akira fall in love with a woman (in 5 seconds) only for her to turn out to be Ryo the whole time. Straightbaiting at its finest

you are one of satans bravest for having sat through that whole thing 🥲🫡

yep. it really is that bad and pointless. and i completely agree that the art style is a total downgrade. he didnt even improve, the boobs are spheres now. i drew like that when i was 11.

well i say pointless but lore telling us that god is actually the true bad guy who keeps destroying earth because humans keep evolving into devilmen one way or another, who he cant manipulate the way he can with humans, and to punish satan for loving the devilmen and daring to defy him the first time, again making him not easily manipulable like the other angels, is pretty significant.

also yeah hes always had an obsession with dantes inferno, he made one, or two? i dont recall right now. Mao Dante. lol. other manga before devilman that focus on DI he just keeps reusing his own ideas to the max.

the straightbaiting IS based though yeah lmao. its because thats satan actually. since hes clean cut into two then and jun is his softer kinder side while asuka is the more surface abrasive ryo we know. ....or you know, feminine and masculine, quite literally, because somehow go nagai made a BL epic that inspired dozens of other classics and yet doesnt think gay people exist as such. personally i think his mind, too, is dantes inferno of layers of bullshit.

[fluffallamaful]

So, uh. There are these two EXCELLENTLY-written character studies surrounding c!Dream that I’d like to suggest — but they’re both Canon Compliant, meaning that they’re not all that fluffy. They have kind of hopeful endings, I think, but they’re on the darker side of what I’ve sent before. I’m gonna recommend them below:

inosculation: https://archiveofourown.org/works/44126358

crown, plate, bowl: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45418216/

Anyway I’m a HUGE fan of hurt/comfort, so I’d like it if readers would imagine that all of my tickly fix-it’s happen with this sort of thing as a sort of historical context for my aus :) (Kat is seriously an incredible writer. Most of her stuff is REALLY dark, but I think these two fics are kind of around the level of angst where you’d still be able to appreciate them.) (Especially because you KNOW the fluff is gonna come right after :) )

finally managed to read both of these!! and omfg they’re both incredibleeeeee!! i love the way they’re written so much and you’re right this is the sort of angst i can absolutely handle,, and more than that,,, i quite simply adore it. his character is awesome

(discussion belowwww):

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link 1 — make sure you read the author’s trigger warnings <3

it’s actually so damn cool what people can take from the minecraft lore. the prison arc has always been my favourite to write i feel. there’s so much emotion and it’s easy to compare said emotion to the prison’s surroundings. and you’re right, this person is feckin epic at writing omg. the way they describe the changes that dream and sam go through in prison is incredibly awesome. their flow is awesome. their descriptions are awesome.

the way they mention both sam and dream comparing dream’s body to a machine is so cooollll. coz that’s what it felt like in the prison arc, both of them slowly losing sight of what they were even both there for, just getting far too sucked up in their role. it’s also fun to point out that sam would have been making all his decisions assuming that dream would be in prison for ages. dream was under the impression that he’d be out after a only a short time (once punz decides that he’s off everyone’s radar). it’s just so cool.

and also how they talked about how once techno and quackity had left the prison they both ended up slipping so comfortably back into their roles (sam is warden, dream is is prisoner). so coooollll

🦙🦙🦙…

link 2 — again, check the warnings before you read

ok ThIS one i feCKIn lOvE. like it captures dream’s tolerance to physical pain so damn well, and his way of always finding a positive light in his struggles. his character was always so optimistic in the darkest of situations. also i lOVe the way they’ve told it. basing it around food. so cool

the little details that they added were anazingggg. like the fact that he was clumsy and not as skilled in the early days, and the idea of him trying to roast his potatoes in the lava. and omG the s2 reference at the end there aH ahHH!! it’s so pretty and well written and fun. like it’s such a fun way to describe his character. very very coool 🥺

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