#which; with a bit more info now; i don't think they doubled for any other parts. blade disguised i'm theorizing

[unproduciblesmackdown]

another new blade gunnblade pic & then no way of knowing if this is alternate timeline / alternate point in time / disguised blade or they're doubling another part (since they have blade's necklace still, but may just be a matter of throwing on a jacket & wig for this other part between / before blade appearances)

[animelover28sworld]

When You Say The Safe Word.

Characters: Scaramouche, Zhongli, wriothesley, Kaeya and Tighnari

Warnings: NSFW, hair pulling, name calling, teasing, double cocks (Zhongli) slight breeding kink, unprotected sex

Info: saying the safe word during s3x

A/N: this is my first time writing Genshin smut so it will be bad so please bare with me a bit plus half of this was written late at night.

WRIOTHESLEY

Don't get me wrong, you love rough sex with WRIOTHESLEY but today was a lot rougher than usual. He had a long day at the fortress of meropide and you understood that plus hardly gets any days or nights off. So tonight he was rough, all it started out was a simple kiss then turned out to be a heated make out session then to sex. He was pounding into you like there was no tomorrow while gripping your hips hard enough that you knew that there were going to be bruises the next day, but you couldn't take it any more "pine- pineapple." You choked out but he didn't hear you and just kept going. "wriothesley pineapple!" You said, that time he heard you and completely stopped what he was doing and took his hands off of you. "are you okay love?" wriothesley asked you. "Y-yeah you were just a lot rougher than usual..." You told him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean too." He apologized. "I know you are." You told him. "Do you need anything?" He asked you. "a nice warm bath would do and cuddles." You told him. "Your wish is my command." Wriothesley told you.

KAEYA

Oh boy, you think you would have to use the safe word with KAEYA a lot but actually you never really did, even when both of you got drunk he was gentle with you. Except for tonight, you honestly didn't know what got into Kaeya, you saw this side of Kaeya before but this felt different somehow. He had you on all fours pushing your head into the pillows, mascara running down your face from the pleasure, but then it got too much for you, it felt like you could barely breathe because when you wanted to come back up for air Kaeya just pushed your head down. "K-Kaeya apple!" You said before he could push your head back down. When he heard that he stopped, then you sat up coughing. "I'm sorry, I was a little rough wasn't I?" Kaeya asked you. "A little? More like more rough." You told him. "I'll run you a bath okay?" Kaeya told you. You nodded your head "okay"

SCARAMOUCHE

Now with SCARAMOUCHE you always have rough sex, very much like Kaeya he would have you on all fours but instead pushing your head into the pillows he would pull your hair up and never give you any breaks. "Hah you like that you slut?" Scaramouche said as he pulled your hair up. You whined yes you did like it but it got too much for you. "Scara orange." You whined, he clicked his tongue and let go of your hair so let go of you. "You were taking me so well what changed?" He asked you almost it sounded like he was mocking you but you knew he actually cared. You were too tired to say anything. Scaramouche sighed "I'll get a bath ready..."

ZHONGLI

You gotta remember that ZHONGLI is a dragon that has a human form so usually he has a heat cycle. Which usually means he gets heat cycles as weird as it sounds it's true, anyways this isn't your first time having sex with Zhongli while he's in heat. It's usually not that bad but this time it was bad, he put you in a mating position you found out that Zhongli had a breeding kink while he's in heat so all he could think about right now was stuff you full of his cum, he wasn't slowing down and you know he wouldn't be slowing down any time soon, plus it didn't help taking both of his cocks in you, usually you would do one but you thought why not tried the other one and man did you regret it because you felt like you could barely breath. "Zhongli b-blue." You croaked out. You heard him growl when you said that, was he pouting? "Are you okay Y/N?" Zhongli asked you as he sat you up. "I just need a break..." You told Zhongli, your voice was a little scratched out from all the screaming and moaning, he got you a cup of water. "Stay here I'll run a bath." Zhongli told you.

TIGHNARI

(I don't know who's fanart of this is Tighnari but all the credits go the the artist)

like Zhongli TIGHNARI has a heat cycle he usually gets through it with medicine, it doesn't totally get him through his cycle but it makes it a lot less painful for him. but it doesn't help when you are around because the medicine doesn't do shit for him, all he thinks about is taking you right then and there. which he currently doing once he got home to you. "Do you know how much I craved for you all day?" Tighnari asked you rutting into you, you couldn't say that much because Tighnari was literally fucked you out of your mind and too rough. "Tighna-Tighnari Kiwi." You groaned out. When he heard that he stopped and looked at you, and saw you completely wore out. "I'll get you a towel and you glass of water and get a shower running." He told you. "Okay." Is all you could say.

[the-modern-typewriter]

Hi, I really love your writing. It’s actually incredible how you can write people of the same pronoun and still make it easy to discern the two characters. I was wondering if you have any tips on how to do that without using phrases like “the short one” or anything like that.

1. Use the character's names

I often use 'the protagonist ', 'the antagonist', 'the hero', 'the villain' on tumblr. However, functionally, I use these like names and/or titles.

Using a character name allows you to periodically clarify who is talking or doing something when the reader would otherwise get confused. I know some people take this a step further by actually using 'Hero' 'Villain' as names more literally/directly, but I don't personally like doing that. It jars my brain.

I think 'the hero' etc works as an indicator where 'the short one' doesn't because it's neutral/not providing new info. Traditionally, we often only use physical descriptors when we don't know who a character is, so it creates distance/can jar when used in the middle of a scene. If you are in first person or limited third, there's just not necessarily a reason why your narrator would think of the other character in that way, which is another reason it can feel odd.

Basically, it's a bit like how we don't notice 'said', but would really notice if someone was uttering/shouting/mumbling in every dialogue tag.

2. Use proper paragraphing.

New character doing something, new line. New person talking, new line. New idea/point, new line. Shift in time or setting, new line.

3. Don't be afraid of easy beats

What are easy beats, you say? They are the moments of action or thinking in between dialogue. Body language. Whatever. Even if you don't use 'he/they/she said', because that can get repetitive. They are a way of providing context and variety to your writing, that can often do double work making it clear who is doing or saying something.

Example:

''So this is dialogue," they said.

"Right."

"And you didn't need to say you were talking next, because it was obviously someone else because it was on the next line. And now it's obviously me again. Hi!"

"All well and good until we've been chatting like this forever."

"Well." They stretched out, lazily. "That's what the easy beat that just happened was for. Did you catch me stretching in the middle?"

"But now I'd need a name or some kind of indicator," Character B replied. "Or it feels odd. Too many theys"

"It's all about balance, my friend. The instinct comes with practice."

Character B wrinkled their nose. "But what if I want to talk for a really long time?"

"Well," they said. "Then you can often start with a pronoun use or a character name to establish. Then you make your next point. Try and keep it relatively easy to follow. After that, try to have some kind of easy beat or action happen so the whole thing isn't talking heads." Character A rose towering to their feet, waggling their fingers in another hello. "And, if we're lucky, we never need to say 'the short one said' again, because we can flow our descriptions more naturally into the action.' Now." They sauntered closer, stopping in front of Character A with the worst smirk that B had ever seen. "Shall we ask the audience which of us is taller?"

[jeff-from-marketing]

Hey it's been a hot minute, I'm gonna go off about Helldivers 2 for a bit, because the whole thing fascinates me.

Funnily enough it's not even the actual game itself that truly fascinates me, as great as it is. I do genuinely think that, while not perfect, it's a very solid game that knows what kind of experience it wants to deliver, and does a fantastic job delivering on it. The Starship Troopers-esque satire is hilarious, and I love how much the gameplay reinforces that satire through things like reinforcements canonically being a whole new Helldiver sent into the meat grinder, and that the mission still counts as a celebrated victory even if you never make it back alive. I could even talk about how the objectively clunky system for calling in orbital support is actually a positive for the game, but only this game and the type of experience it's selling.

But none of that is what fascinates me about this game so much. Because y'see, I played the first Helldivers game, and it was also a great bit of fun! It's actually why I was interested in the second one to begin with. But I also know that the first Helldivers was not a very wide reaching game, none of Arrowhead's games have been. They've not done poorly by any means, they're still in business and have been for over a decade now. But they've always been fairly niche affairs. Until now. To really sell the picture, I wanna rattle off player counts for their previous games:

Magicka in 2011, Arrowhead's first big game and published by Paradox, had an all-time max player count of 11,727 players according to SteamDB. I don't believe it was on any other storefronts, but I could be mistaken. A quick wikipedia visit tells me that the game sold roughly a million units over a year which, again, not bad! Especially for a game that is admittedly fairly unusual, but is a lot of fun!

The Showdown Effect in 2013, which I only just found out about right now after double checking my numbers, had a all time high of just 3,284 according to SteamDB, and is now delisted from Steam. Though apparently there's a remake from another company happening? There's a lot less info on this one in general.

Gauntlet in 2014, this one I do know a bit more about since I also played this one. A remake of the original 1985 game, and was a good bit of fun as well! This one is trickier to get an accurate player count reading, because it did have a PS4 release and those are harder to find numbers for. Regardless, it was also on Steam, so therefore I can use those numbers at least, which gives me a max consecutive player count of 12,730. I don't know how much PS4 factored into this.

And now we get to the real interesting one: Helldivers 1. Again, this is tricky because not only was it on console, but it was actually on console before it was ever on PC, which heavily skews numbers. SteamDB has the peak at just 6,744, but this doesn't sit right with me. I've seen estimates of 50k people around the place, some say 35k, but never a solid source. It's also very difficult to search atm because of how much Helldivers 2 is blowing up. Speaking of...

So Helldivers 1 is their most popular game, and I'll be generous and say that the 50k count is the accurate one. So surely Helldivers 2 can't be that much more- oh I'm not even going to pretend, you already know what's going on here. The game has reached ~450k concurrent players just on Steam alone! And the game also exists on PS5, and if I recall correctly: there's official statements saying that the player counts are roughly equal with each other. That means a peak of ~900,000 individual players. To illustrate how bonkers batshit insane that is, motherfucking Fortnite has a current consecutive player count of roughly one million.

Let me reiterate: a game that came out of basically nowhere with little marketing, from a small studio with only about 100 employees, is rivaling the juggernaut that is fucking Fortnite. That is insane.

As someone who has played all of Arrowhead's previous games besides The Showdown Effect, this is bonkers. There's a reason the sentiment was "there's no way to have predicted this" when the servers were at their worst, because look at the previous data! How is anyone supposed to predict a sequel to a niche game (from a company very few people have heard about) to get a ~1800% increase in max player count? Their initial server capacity was 250k, which would've been very optimistic if you were just going by Helldivers 1 numbers. But then that wasn't enough. And then 360k wasn't enough. And then 450k wasn't enough. We're now at 700k server capacity and just finally getting things under control. This game just exploded in a way no one could have reasonably predicted. And I have no idea why this is the case either.

I'm not saying it's not deserved; it absolutely is! Like I said, game is great, and there's not even any shitty business practices I can bitch at this time! It's just so sudden and out of nowhere that it baffles me. Such a small percentage of these players would've even heard of the first game, let alone played it. It didn't have a massive marketing campaign, this is pretty much all spread through word of mouth, which is insane in its own right. It's not even like the game is entering an untapped market, it shares its existence with games like Deep Rock Galactic, Vermintide, Darktide, the actual Starship Troopers game, probably some others I'm forgetting. And yet, despite all of this, it breached containment something fierce. I don't have a big conclusion to make from all this, I'd love to be able to say "oh people are just getting tired of Triple A- oh I'm sorry, Quadruple A gaming and this is a breath of fresh air" and it is that, as was Baldur's Gate 3, but I'm not naive enough to think that's the main reason. Not when so many other great games continue to go undiscovered, and so many people still end up buying whatever the next big Triple A thing is. It's a great game to play with friends, and there's a lot going for it and a lot of charm, but such is also the case for the other games I already listed in this paragraph and they don't see the same popularity.

Whether it's just dumb fucking luck, or a really oddly specific set of circumstances at play that I can't see, I'm just dumbfounded and flabbergasted. But I'm not exactly gonna complain. It's fun getting sent into the meat grinder to spread Managed Democracy, and I'm glad the game is doing as well as it is, though I do hope that the devs get to have a bit of rest once the dust finally settles a little bit.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for being too close to my childhood best friend?

(This is so long I'm so sorry, there's just a fair bit of info.)

Me (22F) and Jake (23F) grew up together. Our mothers were friends for years and got pregnant around the same time, and we've basically been side by side our whole lives. We consider each other platonic soulmates and siblings.

Jake has had a girlfriend (Lucy, 23F) for the last seven months. I really like Lucy, she's so funny, so interesting, and she clearly makes Jake happy. There's been one or two awkward moments between us, but its never been anything that lingered or caused problems.

Now I know how people generally act/think about "the girl best friend" so when Jake said he was thinking of asking Lucy out, I made sure to back off a bit. Instead of having a brate (bro date, just hanging out doing something like bowling, Maccas, movie theatre, ect) once a week I said we should have one once a month, I don't call him just to hang on the phone together anymore, I make sure to not message at all on the days I know they have dates planned, ect.

I've really, really done my best to not get in the way, to make sure Lucy knows he really is just my brother, and I've tried to give them both space as someone who is not involved in their relationship.

I thought I was doing really well because its never really come up until this week. It was Jake and I's brate day and we decided to go to the mall so I could shop for clothes and he could get the slushies he likes there. Lucy knew where we'd be, and "happened" to show up, which was fine. Like I said, I like hanging out with her, and I actually thought it was cool I could get another girl's opinion on my outfit.

Jake decided to try on some clothes too while he was there and it turned into something of a mini fashion show of both of us showing off our possible choices. Lucy seemed to alternate between really having fun and going quiet. She refused to try on any herself but grinning and laughing while Jake and I were, and while we were taking turns playfully hyping each other up.

Jake tried on a pair of jeans and I was teasing him and said "damn dude, look at all that ass" trying to make him embarrassed. This was when Lucy muttered something I didn't quite hear, and politely suggested I should leave. Both Jake and I were really confused and taken aback and Lucy kind of shrugged and said things like this were things couples should do, and it was really inappropriate of me to make a sexual comment about her boyfriend while she was right there.

I didn't want to make a scene so I said I'd go, but Jake argued back and said it was clearly just joking around and he's sick of her getting upset at literally anything I do, or he does with me, which was surprising because it was the first I heard that she's had actual complaints.

We all wound up sitting down in the food court to talk and Lucy basically said that she's growing more and more uncomfortable with how close Jake and I are as her and Jake get closer, even though Jake and I's interactions have drastically dropped since they started dating. She thinks its weird we have friendship bracelets (our families went on a double vacation when we were 14 and me and Jake bought those cheap seaside shell bracelets in matching colors, that's literally it) and we hang out alone once a month (even though she's been invited multiple times and always refuses) and she thinks its even weirder than our families are so close and call us siblings.

I won't lie, it killed me inside, but I offered to back off entirely and only be around Jake in group settings, if at all, but Jake cut in and said that wasn't a compromise he was willing to make, and asked Lucy to talk more in private. They left together and trying to be respectful, I haven't reached out at all to either of them while they talk it through.

Jake's mom came over today to hang out with mine, and wound up telling me the last few days Jake has been stressed out, miserable, and isn't sure about staying with Lucy. She said it was a shame because Lucy seemed so nice, but she also said she was proud of him because I was family and Lucy's insecurity wasn't reasonable.

It made me feel sad and like I was hurting Jake by interfering with his relationship again, so I asked some of my online friends from a game I play and the opinion was kind of split. They all agreed I've never spoken about Jake in a way that hinted I liked him, but also that as girls, they'd feel weird anyway about knowing their boyfriend had this close bond with another girl, and they'd be wondering what the future would look like and if our friendship would get in the way of choices like moving, starting a family.

Now I feel completely lost and honestly a little scared of both losing Jake and apparently ruining his life by being so close to him. None of the rest of our IRL friend group has ever brought anything up about it, and I don't know if this is Lucy being jealous or if this is my fault.

What are these acronyms?

[tinyidle]

in (the summer) heat - jyh x yn x cjh

Summary: the heat in rabat is intense, and you wish to get a break and feel like the people you work for instead of cleaning their pools. fortunately for you, two handsome men grant your wish for you without you even asking.

Characters/Pairing: yunho x fem!reader x jongho

AU/Trope info: slice of life, strangers to lovers

Genre: smut, pwp

Word Count: 2.2k words

Warnings: coercion/peer pressure (consensual), foreplay: heavy petting/fondling, fingering, double-penetration (p in v + fellatio ft. deepthroating), multiple orgasms, unprotected sex (ofc don't do it), doms!jongho and yunho, sub! reader

Rating: M for mature

A/N: about two months overdue.. and i have even more in the drafts fifth submission to @wonderlandnet, tagging @strayteezsimp

it was the beginning of the afternoon, and you'd been cleaning pools since five in the morning, but still, you were getting paid for it, and your boss wasn't really giving you any breaks.

you were cleaning your last pool before going home for the day, and you were glad about it, too. all you wanted to do was go home, shower, and sleep. you'd been doing this for quite a few months now, so it wasn't a problem to do, but the fact that you were sweating and tired and your legs felt like they were going to collapse from the hot, humid weather was something that made it hard.

so far, all the hotels that you've cleaned pools in were all pretty basic and normal. but this one…well, this one was huge and luxurious, with beautiful decorations and the best views of the city. and you couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the rich people who got to stay in the hotel and experience it for themselves.

just as you were getting ready to leave, you heard voices and footsteps behind you, which startled you. you looked up, and your heart began to pound fast, your face turning hot.

they were none other than choi jongho and jung yunho, famous singers of a famous group who were currently on tour. you didn't think you'd ever meet them, but you've listened to their songs and hoped to see them perform on stage one day. however, since you were on the clock, you decided to continue dong work as normal.

later on that day, you got a call from your manager. "hello?" you answered. your manager said that for the next couple of days you would be getting paid extra to, not clean pools, but to help out two hotel guests who wanted you specifically. being a bit skeptical but also happy that you were getting paid to not be in the hot sun cleaning water garbage, you took the offer and got ready for tomorrow, as per instruction from the two guests.

the next day passed, and you were wondering who called for you specifically at the pool area where anyone could walk in. then you saw them: jung yunho and choi jongho. you were both starstruck and confused. what are they doing here?

you shyly did you best to greet yourself. "h-hi," you greeted yourself, along with stating your name.

they gave you a kind smile and introduced themselves to you. "hey, im yunho, and this is jongho. we're going to be your bosses for the next few days," yunho stated. when you gave a sort of confused look, he explained. "do you know why we asked for only you here? why we asked for you for more than one day? why we reserved the pool for two hours for each day we have with you?" you shook your head, feeling more out-of-the-loop then ever before.

jongho, whose been staring at you the entire time, spoke up. "we saw you the other day, and, even though it sounds crazy," he chuckled to himself before finishing off his point, "we want to get to have some fun with you."

"if you want to, that is," yunho pointed out, wanting you to feel at ease and not all pressured for sex.

this had to be the craziest thing you were asked of by a client, especially since clients barely gave you the time of day. you, a regular pool cleaner, caught the attention of, not one, but two handsome and famous men… and they want you? this had to be some time of joke. but, if it was, then why were they giving you that look? that look that makes your insides heat up and your mind go crazy, that look that you've only seen in those romantic dramas that you've watched?

"um," you stuttered. "what-what did you guys have in mind?"

yunho grinned. "since no is allowed to come here except for us three, we could do whatever we like."

"and since we personally requested you," jongho added, "you can do what we like, and in return we'll do what you like. almost like a mutual exchange."

the older nodded. "so, what do you say, pup?" your cheek tinged dark at the cute yet slightly suggestive pet name. "want to give us a shot?"

you gave them a smile and nodded. "yes," you agreed. you had a feeling this was going to be a lot of fun.

yunho's face lit up, while jongho gave you a sultry, teasing look. "good choice," the younger cooed.

without much warning, the two gave you a kiss on either side of your cheeks. jongho looked down at your casual clothing before asking, "do you have on a swimsuit like requested?"

you nodded, making the older hum in satisfaction. "so, you don't mind us taking your top and sweats off?" you shook your head in confirmation, allowing the two to discard your clothes (along with their own), leaving all three of you in swim attire before stepping into the warm pool. "you're really cute, pup," he praised as he came closer, his body just centimeters away from yours.

you were about to speak, but stopped when jongho suddenly put his hands on your waist, squeezing it. "i bet he's not the only one who thinks that," he mused. he leaned down and gave your lips a small kiss, before kissing down to your neck, sucking and biting on the sensitive skin, earning a low whimper from you.

yunho moved closer, moving a hand down to cup your core, gently massaging it. he gave you a deep kiss, which was different from the younger's, as yunho's was more passionate and sensual, while jongho was a little rough, a little more dominant, but still very good. the two's hands felt all over your body, from your shoulders to your back and your legs. their hands felt cool against your warm skin, which made you sigh, a sigh that was muffled by yunho's mouth.

suddenly, the two's hands stopped, and yunho and jongho's lips left yours. you looked up, curious as to why they had stopped. jongho chuckled and pecked your lips before he started, "you're already enjoying this, aren't you?"

yunho, who was behind you, nodded. "you're so cute, and you have a great body," he praised, making you blush.

"and since this is our first time together," jongho added, leaning into your ear and whispering, "i think we go slow, right hyung?"

yunho simply nodded while using one of his large hands to massage your left breast while his other went back to your core again, gently teasing it. jongho's hands were still on your waist, and they felt firm and secure, which was comforting.

you couldn't stop yourself from moaning at the new stimulation, with jongho and yunho's actions causing a small pool of arousal to form in you. the two smirked at each other.

"you like this, baby?" yunho questioned. "you like when we tease you?"

"use your words, honey," jongho purred, leaning in closer and whispering into your ear, "don't be afraid to tell us what you want." your mind was going a million miles an hour, and all you could do was pant and moan and nod. jongho clicked his tongue. "what did i just say, baby?" he teased, lightly nibbling at the shell of your ear.

yunho, who had now removed his hand from your core and was instead groping your ass, whispered, "be a good pup for us, okay?" you nodded. "then say, 'thank you for being so nice and touching me.'"

you felt a small pout appear on your face, but did as the two said, earning a smile and kiss from the older and the younger, respectively.

"you're such a good girl for us, honey," jongho praised.

"we're very lucky to have found such a cute, polite puppy," yunho added.

you could only whine, causing the two to chuckle.

"do you want us to make you cum, puppy?" jongho questioned.

"yes, please," you breathed out.

he smirked in response, "well, if you insist." before you could even react, jongho and yunho's mouths were all over you, and you were in heaven.

yunho's hand that was previously on your core had moved inside your bikini bottoms to massage your clit. the other was on your left breast, his hand gently kneading the soft flesh and playing with your nipple. jongho was still teasing your neck, but his free hand had moved up to play with your right breast. you let out a long, loud moan as you felt yourself get closer and closer to climax.

"god, puppy, you sound so good," yunho complimented.

jongho nodded and added, "we're so lucky to have such a sexy and submissive girl like you." the younger then leaned into your ear and whispered, "cum for us, sweetie. we want to see how much of a good baby you are."

and just like that, you were done for. with a final scream, you came all over yunho's fingers. he kept his hand there until you were completely finished, then brought his hand to his mouth, licking up your juices. "you taste amazing," yunho mused, his eyes dark and hungry.

"and we've only just begun," jongho chuckled before giving your neck one last kiss, going up to your ear to whisper. "we're gonna make sure this is the best pool experience you've ever had."

..

all three of you were now naked as plain day, with you currently having your mouth used by jongho and yunho stretching your cunt to oblivion, all while you were on your hands and knees. both men's cocks were huge, and you sort of wished your mouth would be stretched less from jongho's length while wishing yunho would go easier on the depth. nevertheless, you weren't at all complaining.

"you're so tight, baby," yunho groaned, thrusting himself into you at a faster pace. "so tight and wet."

jongho grunted, almost in agreement. "and her mouth is so hot, soft and warm. she's perfect."

your mind was going blank and hazy, and the only thing you could do was moan and cry out. the two men were doing a great job at pleasing you, and you were grateful to be the one they laid their eyes on.

jongho's thrusts were fast and deep, and you knew he was close by the way he was starting to tremble. you could feel yourself getting close, too, and from the sounds of yunho's labored breaths and grunts, he was, too. "shit, baby, im gonna cum," jongho growled.

"same here," yunho panted as his thrusts become less rhythmic and more erratic.

both men were now using you as their dump, and it was turning you on immensely. it wasn't long before the two of them were reaching their highs.

"oh, fuck, baby, im cumming!" jongho grunted, his body stiffening as he came in your mouth.

yunho was soon after. "shit, pup! im cumming!" he gasped, his whole body convulsing as he released inside of you.

as soon as the two finished, they pulled out and let go of your hair, letting you take a deep breath. they gave you a few seconds to regain your bearings before pulling you up, bringing you to a hug.

after a minute or two, the two pulled out of you and moved you to the next position. jongho was laying on a bench while you rode him with your back facing him, and yunho was jerking himself off to the sight of you in front of him. "god, baby, you're so pretty," the older cooed, stroking himself slowly.

"i love it when i see my cock go in and out of you," jongho purred. "fuck, you're so tight and hot, and you make such pretty noises." he moved his hips up into yours in a faster pace, holding you down to make you truly feel him.

you whimpered, feeling your second orgasm coming close.

"come on, pup, cum for us," yunho whispered. "let me see you cum all over jongho's cock."

and just like that, you felt yourself reach another high.

"thats it, baby, cum," jongho grunted. "such a good girl."

"you're so good for us," yunho cooed, reaching his second high, cumming all over your chest and stomach.

it wasn't long before jongho came in you, pulling your back to him so he could hold you while waiting for his length to soften before carefully pulling out of you.

yunho got a towel from the rack and wiped his release off your chest before helping jongho clean up your center cautiously. once that was done, the two held you close, kissing and caressing your face and hair.

continuing to hold you to make sure your aftershocks subside, he praised you"you're amazing, and we're so glad you agreed to this," jongho sighed.

"im glad, too," you panted.

the two kissed you one last time before taking you back to your room in the hotel, and, since it was late, they decided to stay with you.

it was the best pool experience ever, and you couldn't wait to do it again.

[dawnbreakerluna]

I really like this theory! Because I was thinking the same during the last few chapters when we finally get a glimpse of Sylus and MCs memories. This is the link - https://x.com/millecreupe/status/1813809147508613476?t=2YsqG032kliHKY18Z4QKZg&s=19

The way I'm so dedicated to this cause that I ended up making a Twitter account just to view this.

Let me preface that I am a bit freaked out right now because everything OP wrote about in this thread is pretty much accurately aligned with every specific detail I've predicted/theorized about Sylus and his purpose of changing fate/breaking cycles/etc. I've delayed making any posts about lore because I genuinely don't want to go back into the story chapters to take screenshots and shit, it's very tedious to me LOL 😭😭😭😭😭 I promise I remember what I can, even if it's not miniscule details, I just take away the important things!

(Side note: I've previously predicted/prophesized things before that have come true & I'm a little spooked by it. I don't like to put things out there unless I'm super passionate about a subject LMFAO)

[Warning: VERY LONG info dump/theory post ahead!]

Often when it comes to unveiling or creating monsters, there is always a price to pay. That's the common formula for any story involving someone who has an alternate form or is on the verge of becoming something non-human. It takes a special kind of trigger - often, it's intense emotional states - to unleash a creature or be granted a uniquely regal power. (ex. Eren from AoT, Nero in DMC5, Ignis in Final Fantasy 15)

I'm going to follow the evidence listed in OP's thread for my references + additional responses to the thread that are relevant, which I will link here for easy clickback! (Thank you so much again anon!)

I want to dive into one of the examples I listed first before I proceed. (Light spoilers ahead, and iffy details since it's been so long since I played the game.) While Ignis doesn't have an alternate form whatsoever, there's a DLC in FF15 where you have the opportunity to play as him during the climatic event of main story. Essentially, this would involve Ignis changing the planned fate of the protagonist where he would end up sacrificing himself in the very end to save his world and his people. Ignis pretty much defies that fate, going against godly forces and sacrificing a part of himself that ends up changing the canon ending. In short: Ignis saves the protagonist, everybody else, and everything's great. Yay!

I'm a broken record at this point by saying Sylus' involvement is going to defy fate and interrupt the timelines. TLDR; He's going to ultimately save MC from her curse and break the cycles, no matter the cost.

First, let's discuss Sylus' Evol (power). Energy manipulation can mean a lot of things, though as far as the story has shown us, this means he can bend anything/anyone at will through energetic binds. Also, he can know someone's deepest desires, which is activated when his right eye glows.

At a certain point in Chapter 9 (or 2.1), Sylus mentions something about the MC's Evol being weaker/not as strong as before. While we know Energy Resonance is the MC's power, there seems to be something more at play when it comes to it. It's a likely possibility that the MC herself is more powerful beyond resonating with others, perhaps to the point of causing re/destruction.

I like what OP says in part 3 of the thread: "I assumed MC didn't kill him but instead resonated with Sylus, making his self healing ability double in power, AND at the same time directly **pouring the energy of her aether core into the core the he would be implanted, forcibly reshaping a "heart" in his body."

[Previous quote was in alignment to: "Sylus turned into a wanderer. And if mc died and didn't kill him there, he might completely turn into a wanderer..."]

It's hard to deter me from the belief that in the flashback we saw towards the end of 9.2 that Sylus was literally in a Wanderer form. The arm that moves and reaches out to MC is a lot bigger than her own and when looked at closer, you can make out a textured hand with claws. You can see his palm held out faced upwards, and a weapon floating(?) just atop the center of it.

[10/25 UPDATE: The last time I touched this post was back in July, LMAO. This has been sitting in my drafts for months, but now with the Sylus Translation Project, I'm happy to add it to this mini dissertation.]

Here are some points from the Reddit post that struck my interest the most:

[Changed Facts] Changes how Sylus's powers work: specifically, there are invisible shackles inside of his body that prevent him from absorbing even more power. There is not a tether that prevents him from "tapping into" more power. This is a fundamental power difference and has created a complete misunderstanding about how his powers truly work amongst English-only speakers in the global community.

[Missing Fact] Sylus's Aether Core works by him invading and taking over consciousness; he does not merely perform basic mind control, it's actually far more insidious and terrifying.

[Power Nerf] Sylus's powers are actually described as "all-powerful and all-encompassing" but this was somehow reduced into merely blocking exits.

I encourage you to read the entire post in full, for it shifts so much about Sylus' character. Though for me personally, it only justifies all my speculations and conclusions about his character even beyond mistranslation. I will repeat myself over and over and OVER again: Sylus is beyond powerful, way more than we even know and I'm honestly just waiting for Infold to do something to show this grand transformation or show of power.

With these fixed translation points, it makes sense why he's so desperate to resonate with MC. A few comments on the Reddit post have the same speculation I did that it's possible him and MC have the same Aether Cores in their bodies. [OP responded to a comment with: "MC hears things like "Devour," "He's yours," "It belongs to you," I almost wonder if it's actually because they share two halves of a single Aether Core…"] [[THIS I AGREE WITH HEAVILY.]] If this is the case, I don't doubt that Sylus knows this, but he would rather MC find this out on her own due to some morale of integrity, building her inner strength, etc.

TLDR; Her resonating with him would unleash those shackles. I also don't think it's amiss that MC also has some kind of shackles, but that's just me thinking of other possible scenarios. Everything is so vague with this story because we've only been fed so much tidbits.

But one thing's for sure... I really, really think these two are the true fated pair, to a certain degree. And why it's difficult for them to resonate is due to the fact that they both wield a power that can shift the world, the universe... everything altogether.

[yanderecookierunkingdom]

Hiii!!! This is my first time requesting a thing!

So uh, I don't know if Tumblr will eat this, but i wanted to heavily request a summoner reader cookie! I doubt you accept this because the say summoned creatures are from a game called Creatures of Sonaria... Like a crossover-

Plot and plus from my huge imagination 😃:

|•Reader Cookie can summon things from alternate universes, and tame almost anything thanks to the witches for blessing her with that ability (beast tamer, or not?)

•So after the seal was broken, WL(White Lily) couldn't really close the seal back and get SM(Shadow Milk) and so because of this the other beasts were able to escape.

•Having not even being able to do much with SM, everyone was terrified because now they have to try and stood against the five of them (if they even were able to do so..)

•So, as they watch in terror as the beasts make complete havock amongst the forest, they also get scare for dear Reader Cookie since they were still in the Faerie kingdom and that's where the beasts are heading

|Now the real thing where Reader Cookie enters and make their debut lol, i think u were waiting for me to say of them.|

•So Reader Cookie was somewhere amongst the Faerie Kingdom large gardens, laying down on their back on a patch of flowers while giggling and and looking up at something, tho there was nothing at all? They were muttering things and mostly alike talking with the air. That's it until one of the beasts found them (can be any of them) but didn't really make their presence know and only call the others to see this strange cookie interact with apparently nothing (not)

—OK SOO, here are a little bit of more in depth explanation of reader cookie power!

-If the summoned beast is invisible or can get invisible, Reader cookie will see say creature with a white outline on it, even in distance but not too much.

-The creature can't be aggressive towards Reader, even if being it can't hit them it like a gut feeling of being connected towards them as Reader does still have the power of controlling then as their will, but they see that too cruel and just let them decide whether or not they want to be with

-Oxytalis, the summon creature! (They are quite huge and creepy looking rose lol)

•They have and invisibility, corrosive and leech life abilities.

-They have a really well development smell sensitivity, so they almost detected immediately what the Beasts where there.

-In size, they are enormous, which is like double the size of a house.

Wiki info:

https://creatures-of-sonaria-official.fandom.com/wiki/Oxytalis

Mystic Flour Cookie was so very, very confused when she first saw you. At first, it seemed like you were talking to nothing.. until her magic allowed her to see.

You're a summoner.. how interesting!

She approaches casually, and despite her nature, she's more than inclined to talk with you. She finds it very easy to, slipping into casual conversation.

That, and she finds herself drawn to you. You're so.. kind. Gentle. Something she wants to protect, oddly. And maybe.. she can.

[miraluscinia]

do you think you could make a list of which hero is who? sorry it’s just confusing

Yknow, i was planning on revealing them one at a time, but there's 18 characters and i feel like it's gonna take me some time to even begin drawing the next person, so why not reveal it now?

Here's a list of who is who, as well as a bit of info (this is a long one so brace yourselves);

The Architect = Grian

- as already revealed, Grian's power is psychokinesis (which is closely related to, but is not telekinesis). The first part of his poem, "Mind over matter", reveals this but there's more to it than that. His wings are also thought to be part of his powers, but whether or not that's true will be revealed in the actual story i'll write. The character introduction hinted at some things, but I'm not gonna point them out until much later.

(Since I haven't properly introduced the rest of the cast yet, I'll avoid mentioning their powers or any other info. You guys will just have to either wait for their introductions, or take a wild guess. I'll just give you guys some behind the scene of each alias and poem)

Vex = Scar

- I honestly had a hard time coming up with the alias for Scar. Eventually, I settled for Vex because some fans headcanon Scar as a vex hybrid, also because the name means "to bring trouble" or "to annoy by petty provocations", which is close to what I plan for Scar in this AU. Also, his poem "A silver tongue, a voice that sways" not only gives a nod to how he usually swindles people in the life series but it also hints at what his power is.

The Mechanic = Mumbo

- I mean... i think it's kinda obvious the person whose poem says "Where machines are present, his genius stands" is gonna be Mumbo. I think i could've thought of a better alias for Mumbo, but I just couldn't at the time, and I guess this has already stuck so... yeah, Mechanic it is for Mumbo.

Trapline = Impulse

- I haven't really watched Impulse that much so I didn't really know what power to give him. But then I watched one of his build and seek videos and I learned that he's good at redstone, so I decided to make his power have something to do with machines as well. And since we already have Mumbo as the tech guy, I just decided to have Impulse be the trap guy. Hence his poem, "A snare unseen, a trap well laid". The alias Trapline just sounded cool to me.

Scarlet Moon = Pearl

- I mean... i think the alias already gives it away. Anyways, Pearl's alias and power was one of the ones that came easy to me. I wanted her whole theme to still be tied to the moon so... Scarlet Moon it is. As for her powers, the first line of her poem, "Gravity bows to her lunar might", kinda gives it away.

Timekeeper = Bdubs

- I don't know much about Bdubs as well, nor have I watched any of his POV (i found the life series through martyn so i mainly watch his pov), but i've seen fanfics and fanart alike of him having a clock and his moss cloak thingy, so i decided to base his power on that. So the first line of his poem, "Time bends where flowers bloom", gives a nod to that, as well as hint at his powers. Bdubs' powers is one of the things I'm very proud of. His character in this AU is also one of the more complex characters. As for his alias, the public only knows about one part of his powers so I thought, "what would people call someone with that power?", and I came up with Timekeeper.

Blaze = Tango

- I actually feel bad for giving Tango a very basic alias, but i really can't think of anything else. I only really got interested in Tango during Double Life, cuz him with Jimmy is really wholesome. I noticed that fanon is that Tango is a blaze hybrid so I just took that and ran. I also loved his reaction in Double Life to the ranch burning, so the last part of his poem, "Heat and flame, in fury's daze", gives a nod to that as well as his powers. Honestly, most of the characters' poems hint at both their powers and something that reminds me of them.

Phantom = Etho

- Honestly, i don't really remember my exact thought process on why I chose Etho's alias and power to be what they are. I think it was literally because his skin is a character from Naruto, and so i guess I just thought, "Naruto... ninja... invisible, yes, yes." And i said i won't mention the characters' powers but actually, the first line of Etho's poem, "Invisible steps, shadows in tow", already gave it away. And there's more to his powers than that anyways, so I guess it's fine.

Maestro = Ren

- Ren's alias gave me a hard time cuz I couldn't think of something that sounds dramatic enough. I ended up going with Maestro since the word means "a master usually in an art", and since Ren gives such a theater kid vibe, I went with it. Now, I had a bit of trouble with his power, mainly because it's similar to another character's, but I evntually found a way to differentiate the two so it's all good now. I just love Ren and Martyn's dynamic in 3rd Life, and in any interaction they have honestly. Ren's entire poem gives a nod to his dramatic theater kid vibe, but the line "Illusions dance, a show so grand" hints at what I plan for his whole character to be in the AU. And it also parallels the other character with similar powers to Ren.

Fortress = Cleo

- Cleo was one of the harder persons to think of a power and alias for. So i went and looked through videos and fanfics alike to see what i can pick up, and I noticed that in most fanfics I read, Cleo is often depicted as a strong and reliable person, and I can get that vibe in the videos I've seen of them. What really solidified my decision for her power, though, is that one moment in Double Life where she tells Martyn that they're both survivors, and that really stuck to me. As for the alias, the word fortress already gives the impression of strong and formidable, so I went with that. It felt like a weird alias the first few times, but it eventually grew on me, and now I kinda like it. The first line of their poem, "Strong as stone, yet swift to mend", also hints at another part of their power.

Mirage = Martyn

- I love his and Ren's theater kids vibe, and it's one of the reasons why I made their powers to be so similar. The reason for Martyn's power and alias is mostly because he's well known for always sneaking around without being seen most of the time, and being able to get away unseen as well. It's also that one line from Skizz during Secret Life that really cemented the power and alias. Skizz was complementing Martyn's ability to sneak around unnoticed and commented, "I'm honestly only 50% certain that you're standing in front of me." Also, aside from the powers, Ren and Martyn's poems are also very similar in the first part. Whereas Ren's is "Illusions dance", Martyn's first line, "Illusions twist, reality bends", not only hints at what differentiates his powers from Ren, but also references how Martyn likes to gaslight people, especially during Secret Life.

Sanguine = Skizz

- Skizz's alias and power are ones I'm most proud of. Every character's powers mostly have more than one part to it, and Skizz's is one i really like. One part of his power, I got inspiration from a fanfic I read in AO3 called "Wake the Dead" by Kiki_the_kiwi. The other part, i got inspiration from the way I noticed Skizz usually becomes in the life series (which martyn also pointed out during his interview in the Imp & Skizz Podcast). The first line of Skizz's poem, "Blood and battle, strength reborn", references this. As for his alias, it took me a long time to pick. I wanted something that suited his power and his character, and I eventually ended up on Sanguine. While it's not the most cool-sounding name, its meaning actually suits Skizz's character in this AU. Sanguine has two meanings, the first being "someone who is cheery" and the other being "blood" or "bloodthirsty", so... you can probably guess why I chose this alias for Skizz, and it also suits the way his power works.

Fenrir = Joel

- Actually, Joel was the hardest to think of a power for because his chaotic nature in the life series doesn't really leave me with a solid idea. Eventually, I just stuck to his 3rd Life vibe, which involves wolves. Hence the alias Fenrir, which is some sort of wolf Norse god, I'm not really sure, I didn’t research it that much (i also just really like the name). As for his powers, the same with every other character's powers in this AU, there's more to it than the surface level. The last part of his poem, "Strength in the pack, yet prone to fall", hints at this.

Starstrike = Scott

- For Scott, i mostly stuck to the most common winner symbol for him, which is stars. His powers isn't as complicated as the others, and the last part of his poem, "A shield, a blade, a step so sure", hints at what he can do with his powers. As for his alias, I guess it just sounded cool to me. I wanted something that relates to his star theme, but also gives the impression of someone not to be messed with, so I went with Starstrike.

The Canary = Jimmy

- Honestly, do I even have to explain? Lol! Jimmy's powers also got inspiration from the same fic I got for Skizz, which is "Wake the Dead" by Kiki_the_kiwi on AO3 (you should really check it out). And his poem, "The first to fall when danger is near", also references his Canary Curse.

Quake = BigB

- i honestly didn't know much about BigB as well, but from what I remember of him, mostly in 3rd and Secret Life, he was mostly mining/digging underground while stuff happens on the surface. His poem, "A rumble deep, the earth obeys", kinda also hints at this, as well as reminds me of his backrooms shtick in Secret Life.

Flora = Gem

- I kinda feel bad, but I honestly gave up with Gem, since I know less about her than others members since she's still a bit new to the life series, and I didn't really watch any of her stuff before. But the vibe I got from her is that she's sweet, but also kinda dangerous. So i thought, the alias Flora sounds sweet, but since it refers to plants and the like, it could also mean danger since there are dangerous plants. Her powers, though, isn't what you would initially think. Like I said, there's more to the characters' powers than what is on the surface level. And Gem's poem, "Nature's strength in her entwines", not only hints at another part of her powers, but also references where I got the inspiration for her powers, which is a certain character from the anime/manga called "Bungou Stray Dogs".

Nightshade = Lizzie

- Lizzie's power was one of the easiest to think of, but of course, there's more to her powers. The name Nightshade is something I really like, and with it being a beautiful plant usually associated with darkness and mystery, I thought that it suits Lizzie well, especially in the AU. Her poem, "In darkness she dwells with deadly grace", further insinuates this.

Aaaand, that's all of them! Sorry for the long post, but I also wanted to share my thought process in picking the alias for each character. And while I don't want to reveal too much of their powers until they get properly introduced, i figured it's fine to touch on the behind the scenes of it for a bit.

What do you guys think? Also, for the anon who asked, I hope this clears things up! :)

[mayimkjs]

FOOL's MATE Update Post #5

Master Post　　Last Update

School Date: Fall, Term 9, Week 1

Haven't done much this month. Mainly just house keeping stuff. Most of the changes to the research doc have been made in the past week because I wanted to have this update out on the 6th.

Obligatory happy birthday to our favorite mentally ill twink. I'll be adding today's timeline to all of the documents that it needs later today. So It wont be in today's research compile. I'll give a little bit of what I think here though. I find it interesting that it's John who's in it and that he's still playing the monster act. I'll make a full post about it soon.

I was also watching Akidearest's newest video which reminded me that I should probably define what Japan counts as murder. So I wrote up a quick slide that takes what she read off of an article about if writing in the Death Note counts as murder. I'll expand it using other and more appropriate sources soon. I just want to have that slide and those ideas down so I don't forget about it.

Pre-Pro Mode

I have officially started my Pre-Production class. I'll be posting work that I do for that class whenever I have it done. The main assignments for the class, in order of due date, are the project proposal, budget, scripts and storyboards. I have the class Tuesdays, so these posts will likely be on Tuesdays.

Prototype Intro

Here's the finalized prototype intro. There isn't any audio in this version. There was audio in the version I turned into my teacher. I would have had to cut some things out and the timeline got messed up somehow, so I just rendered a different comp that contains everything that I wanted to render.

Promo Video

I've started to make the first promo video. I wanted to have it ready for Mikoto's birthday, but that's obviously not happening. So now my goal is to have this done for Double's anniversary. Here's the storyboard.

Changes

Added

How did he not get caught

General Music Info

What in Japan counts as murder?

English Covers

Finished

Vocal styles

Expanded

Birthstones

The Role of Jackalopes in MILGRAM

Links

Mikoto’s & John’s Speech Patterns

Moved

The Kayano System in a Musical Context under Mikoto’s & John’s Speech Patterns

Links

Research Doc (Comments on like always)

Milanote

Reddit Post

Feedback Form

Commission Form

Volunteer Form

[howlingmoonrise]

tagged by the fantastic @sunriseverse! thanks sunny!! 💖

under the cut because this one is long

1. why did you choose your url?

i wanted a new fandom penname and at the time adjective + noun names were a thing. i fiddled with several different variations, tried and failed to acquire kaleidoscopicmoonrise at the time (it's mine now!!), and landed on this one. i wanted something a little spooky, especially since soul eater was my fandom at the time - though it doesn't feel like it now that my icon is a lot more sane-looking lmfao

2. any sideblogs? if you have them name them and why you have them.

uh. yeah. a stupid amount (like 30+?), so i'm definitely not naming them all. most active are obviously this howl blog, my main blog @commandersya, this one for danny phantom and gravity falls stuff, @howlingspacegoo gets some activity every now and then when venom stuff resurfaces, and some others i use for reblogging specific reference stuff. most of the rest are for fandom events i've run in the past.

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

since like 2011-2012. i've seen it all.

4. do you have a queue tag?

lmao absolutely not. i don't use the queue function, though on occasion i'll schedule posts to space them out when i'm going through a tag in order not to reblog all of it at once, or for specific dates like halloween

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

this one was for soul eater writing purposes. tumblr in general was because my cousin dragged me into it and then i realized there was a lot of bandom stuff in here (i was really into black veil brides for my first year or two on tumblr)

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

i broke ties with the soul eater fandom in a not great way and wanted to change my icon. yoi provided the perfect yuri expression with the kind of benevolent dictator smile i really like, despite that not being the original intent for it when the animators drew it ✊😔

7. why did you choose your header?

i had to check my header real quick lmfao. jason todd is just an excellent blorbo and when a good artist draws him.... 👀👀👀

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

oh gods. probably my dracula/barbie fic at nearly 3.5k notes. where's that ben affleck cigarrette pic when you need it. alternatively some ancient black veil brides photo/gif on my main blog.

9. how many mutuals do you have?

idk but i cherish y'all 💖

10. how many followers do you have?

dunno 😭 they're split across dozens of blogs so i'm not counting them all

11. how many people do you follow?

1.8k+, though i should follow more. my dash has times when it's pretty dead.

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

probably? yes. just remembered the i bit the butte psoh post.

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

however long i'm online on my laptop, more or less. so a sizeable amount of hours

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

LMAO. i was in both voltron and yoi fandoms, writing for and running events for "problematic" ships. take a wild wild guess.

15. how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts?

hate them. 90% of the time it'll make me automatically skip it. for the other 10%, if it has relevant info on the op's original post and that little sentence is on the comments then i might go back and reblog from the op just to get rid of it

16. do you like tag games?

love them!

17. do you like ask games?

see above

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

i have uhhh. some. olderthannetfic, nemainofthewater, i think also colubrina for a while there, off the top of my head.

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

if friend crushes count then several ✊😔

20. what is the last song you listened to?

the cramps - goo goo muck

21. what are you currently watching?

i am. so bad at finishing things so like a bajillion shows. the double i might drop despite it having been very very good until like episode 30-something. meet you at the blossom i need to finish like the last two eps. wandee goodday i need to finish four episodes iirc. i was in like episode 5 of century of love. i was on episode... 17? of my journey to you, which if i power through shall be for the antagonist sidepair/trio rather than the main characters. i was also at episode 16 of new life begins, which was fairly good and i do want to continue though i keep forgetting i have that tab open somewhere.

22. sweet/ savoury/ spicy?

savoury!

23. what is your current relationship status?

single and ace so not planning on changing that!

24. what is your current obsession?

the spirealm/kaleidoscope of death, and mysterious lotus casebook

25. what are nine albums/ songs you've been listening to lately?

- La P'tite Fumée - Cypher - Brody Dale - Don't Mess With Me - Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster - Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting (The Vampire Song) - The Cramps - What's Inside a Girl - Linkin Park - Heavy is the Crown - Miyavi & PVRIS - Snakes - D-A-D - Sleeping My Day Away - Aerosmith - Dream On

no-pressure tagging! @junemermaid @a-memory-a-distant-echo @snorlaxlovesme @where-the-water-flows @nemainofthewater

[weaselbeaselpants]

Is it true that parts of Lily Orchard's 'iconic' "SU is Garbage and here's why"-video were directly stealing from another person's take down of the show?

The story I remember reading somewhere was: a black woman creator was criticizing the show's racism/portrayal of race from her perspective -> LO copied or quoted beat-for-beat bits from said video -> said creator voiced in LO's comments that LO had stolen from her and also -> said creator was uncomfortable with how Lily was handling the Stevonnie topic and found her to be the one making it creepy??? -> Lily blocks, mutes the comments of and makes a hate campaign against said creator for the crime of calling Lily out on her bs -> said creator goes quiet because she kept getting heat from Lily's base.

Is any of this true?

I think, understandably, said creator did not want to be associated with Lily or was tired of getting flaq from Lily's fans, and that may be the reason said creator doesn't want to talk or have their name given out. Understandable. But- I need receipts. I can't cont making this claim confidently if I just don't know the story. I promise if anyone gives me said creator's name (may have changed by now) I won't bother them, name them here or anywhere. I respect privacy and also I totally get wanting to be away from all this.

If Lily ever did a plagerism or not is what I'm trying to get to the bottom of, but I know Lily's [bad] takes against SU are rooted in real criticisms made by not-shit critics that Lily took and made horrible in her uniquely Lily way.

As I've mentioned before I like the Diamonds as villains and characters and even I found the finale arc uncomfortable. I think Steven Universe mishandled the topic of genocide and pacifism, besides just having bad pacing. Other critics have meaner or nicer things to say than I do but the point is it's totally normal and not a mark against you to hate the Diamonds and find the show offensive. Where Lily doubled down and went way WAY too far is when she basically insinuated it couldn't just be bad writing but that Sugar was actually a 'fascist sympathizer' herself; WHICH ofc led to Jewish people being upset with Lily, Lily not apologizing to said people and saying they were just butthurt, which led to mine and other's vibe that Lily was being antisemitic and still is, because she really REALLY can't swallow her pride. Fans obv didn't like this language, but also a lot of critics and 'antis' didn't like it either prolly because being dismissive of marginalized people's takes is kind of bad. There's a difference, even in 2018-2019 tymes, between saying 'ick I hate this [x]-liberal creator for being a false ally, ect ect' and saying 'I'M not saying Rebecca Sugar is fascist, but I WILL SAY-'. THAT was what was shitty and still is shitty about how she handled that situation. Lily was taking a criticism that can/does have validity and being needlessly mean and accusatory with it.

@lillian-v-orchard @mikailaandlilyorchard @opinated-user come pm or dm me about this. Same with anyone else in the know who knows more than I do. I want to know I'm not mandela effecting myself or that I got the info from a biased source. Thanks.

[philosophicalparadox]

It’s me again,

So I actually will celebrate Walpurgisnacht at the Blocksberg this year. Needless to say, I won’t go naked (like witches do) but as a modernized, female version of Mephistopheles from Faust. Corset etc will hopefully arrive soon.

Do you think Mephisto actually celebrates it even though he is an outcast among demons? In Faust, Mephistopheles is the Master of witches. Does it apply to the AnE universe too?

Oh you bet he does!

Its a big ass party filled with horny, weird, crazy humans (and demons/elves/witches, supposedly) Why, the party couldn't start without him! Or if it did, he'd be deeply offended lol.

What's more, Walpurgisnacht would be just the sort of party he would crash in Ye Olden Times given that it started as a Christian, holy festival to repel witches. Go back a bit and you get Beltane, the party he'd really like to be a part of, a coinciding Wicca festival dedicated to the appeasement of Fair Folk by, basically, conjuring a protective fire spirit Myodha style, actually. (Who knows, maybe Ucchusma? Even Karura?). There was a bunch of other stuff done in the name of appeasing the spirits/gods, and in particular a god and goddess of special interest to Samael:

If you go back far enough, Walpurgisnacht began as Beltane, which began originally as the veneration of the healing god Belenus and fertility goddess Belisama...

...which are the Celtic names of Apollo and Artemis, respectively.

Now Apollo is almost certainly kin of Lucifer, and Artemis is likely to be kin of Shemihaza - though personally I think they're both the hybrid children of the two gods, if such a thing is possible. Their mythos both coincide with that idea, since both twins have healing and nature powers and are the son and daughter of Helios, the sun God.

Either that or they're Nephilim of Lucifer, raised under Shemihazas influence. Or possibly each Nephilim in their own right, that were simply so close in age and intimacy they were regarded as twins or siblings. Who knows if canon will ever tell us. :)

Anyway, would it not be the most funnest thing ever for our pesky demon Lord to crash a party dedicated to his own niece and nephews honor? Lol. Especially as they double as the children of his bitter rival! Talk about having a crazy uncle!

So yes - I think he started crashing that party long ago to spite his brother and it's become a habit for him to just show up there. Enough of one that he's become expected even lol. Even after its conversion into the Christian commemoration of St. Walpurga, a lot of the traditions didn't change form, but they did change reason. What used to be fires to appease and repel bad spirits now were fires to keep witches, demons and the Devil himself at bay.

So even after the banning of Beltane he'd have just that much more reason to go since, Y'know, having the Devil crash the party of a Christian Saint is actually half the reason for the party in the first place - Why wouldn't he show up in exactly the place he wasn't wanted? Especially given all the fuss about keeping him away! 😆 Don't tell me he wouldn't have an absolute blast with that.

As to his connection with witches, I do think he has a special connection with them, as he does with many people's that are classically oppressed in or associated with his name (as the Devil).

Canon doesn't give us a lot of info about witches, only that the mothers of Nephilim are generally regarded as such. However, the guidelines on what constitutes witchcraft by Catholic interpretation actually includes quite a bit of what Exorcists do on the day-to-day, so 🤷. Given that he oversees one of the most active branches in the True Cross order and is the only true Ba'al still active on the Grigori Council, I would certainly, by any stretch of the Catholic meaning of witch, call him a Lord of Witches lol.

Hope that satisfies!

[skayafair]

Episode 44

In short, I am unwell 🥴 spoilers below.

First thought while listening: Omfg is this Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles all over again with "the price" of granting a wish resulting into "the wisher has to never stay in the same place and always continue the journey across the worlds"? WHO on the team is a CLAMP fan? I don't want Silas and Cass to be doomed by the narrative :')

But THEN congratulations, TSP team, you made a BIG fan of specifically clones, doubles and shapeshifters reeeeeally uncomfortable with them for the first time ever :D even DW's Flesh episodes failed to freak me out this much - I mean yeah the long neck Japanese horror inspired Jennifer was terrifying but part of me was still very sad for her.

These guys though... my mind is rooting for them because they are trying to do a good thing (by their words, anyway), but I can't trust them? It's just another group of people who are convinced the aim justifies any means, which I believe has already lead them into a bit of a wrong direction at the very least. And I didn't feel much for them before because we don't know enough to compile an image? Ok Finley is extra charming, but that's beside the point. But now I'm terrified of them and the idea of "oh gods, you can't trust anyone now".

This is a very interesting effect. It's not like I've never seen this trope playing out. It still didn't affect me - at most it made me more intrigued, never so unsettled. I was really rooting for the doppelgangers in The Flesh, clones were one of my favourite characters in Tsubasa and Tales of Abyss (and I like the question their nature raised there), I support the Echo's rights but more importantly the Echo's wrongs (despite her/them? being an antagonist) in The Sheridan Tapes, same as Ned's from the same podcast, and a shifter is basically what I'd like to be if I could be anything but a human. Oh, and I LOVE the Stranger in TMA.

But here? Ohhh boy. They are very likable characters on their own, but this demonstration of power was INTENSE. Podcasts have an interesting effect with horror on me: I'm not scared at all or at least not as much as I would of any movie because there are no visuals. But having only an audio as a source also amplifies the emotional effect if the acting is right, I suppose. I think Silas is just a very good choice for a viewpoint character. Any listener who's got to this point has to sympathize with him by now, so the listener feels the impact from his emotions. But there has to be another component, too.

Because the uneasiness is not about WHAT they are or their abilities, but the way they choose to use those. Say, in The Flesh the characters have just found out they are/have doppelgangers, so for one team the drastic measures were a matter of survival while for another it was fear of the unknown, and both teams acted on emotions because they didn't have much time to calm down and process everything properly. Extreme situations make people do things they wouldn't do in their sane mind, so there's no evil there. In ToA the clones were treated basically as expendable slaves or objects and suffered a lot, so while they participated in organized violent action, it was still easy enough to understand and sympathize with them. For Echo from TST it was a question of survival, too, and while I was uneasy at times about what she could do, most of her "crimes" stayed off the screen and we the listeners don't even know much about them. Were there any?.. Anyway, I couldn't bring myself not to have sympathy for her and was VERY pleased with her ending. And so on.

But Nico and the others had a looot of time to prepare for whatever. They don't tell what the danger is, exactly, which doesn't help trusting them at all. They act in cold blood. They attacked the base while getting the info about Alpha - could they just talk to Silas and co?The team could very well listen. Instead a lot of lives were lost, and they went specifically after Silas who wasn't even THAT thrilled with going down the Breaches in the first place and was already having second thoughts about this whole thing. So they seem very "rational" and bold but this, again, doesn't help their case.

So they hurt people who don't actually have to be hurt despite the fact that they have all the time to prepare. They don't care - or it seems so. And, again, they don't tell what exactly the danger of the final world is, so it's hard to judge if their actions are justified.

And the way they lead the demonstration. There wasn't even mocking, I think? Some sarcasm, sure, but it didn't feel like mocking. No one was supposed to laugh. It was a very casual and that's why all the more horrifying show of what they are not only capable of but actually do and will do. J was a low blow, but impersonating Silas to the point of "I become Silas Caldwell"? And Cass as the final and the most painful nail in the coffin? This isn't driving the point home, it's intentionally hurting another person for nothing. And part of why I felt so unsettled is because of how good they are at this. And how they just mercilessly shoved that into Silas' face. Like... The Echo in TST did that too, and it did feel a bit unsettling, but it was very different in every regard.

So doppelgangers/shifters? Great! Merciless other species who plan ahead and really just don't care who they hurt and use their abilities to a full potential? Honestly terrifying.

The remaining team Alpha seems to be in a very unfavorable position between three forces which don't see them as people, only the pawns.

I mean. Maybe Nico and co are going to be not only reluctant allies but actually value the team's lives and sanity. They seem to get along in present timeline, after all. I just don't see the point of psychologically torturing a person who has been complying with every word so far and showed to be nothing but willing to help, not faltering even when being held at the gunpoint. It seems to go overboard for just Nico freaking out because Cass made another deal.

All this is not a critique, by the way. I'm very impressed! It's so interesting!

[seaglassandeelgrass]

In which I trip over 30 seconds'-worth of incidental instrumental music, fall very very far down a mudcat research hole, and emerge with a compiled playlist an hour and a half long of every song I can find using the same tune.

In my usual magpie-manner, I've been stricken with the urge to note down every identifiable bit of folksong scattered throughout the Sharpe series (thank you, John Tams, et al.), so during my most recent re-watch I kept notes as I watched- most I knew, the few others I could reverse search by phrases of lyrics, and the only real stumbling blocks were any un-named instrumental ones since I have a terrible ear for tunes I can't attach the mnemonic of lyrics to.

[If you only care for the playlists, scroll to the ✨️ at the bottom; if you want to look at my brain under a microscope, keep reading] [7 Feb, 2023 eta: the playlist has now more than doubled in length, both in # of songs and run-time]

In Siege though, starting at about 29:15, there's a brief bit of plaintive fiddle I did recognise as being the tune used by Judy Collins and others for 'Farewell to Tarwathie'. Which led, when I came to transferring my notes to playlist-form, to searching up the name of the tune itself so I could find an instrumental rendition, with my first port-of-call being the ever-faithful mainlynorfolk index, which quoted A.L. Lloyd as calling the tune 'an old favourite, best known in connection with the song called 'Green Bushes'. Which, being Bert Lloyd, we take with a substantial grain of salt.

So off to the mainlynorfolk index entry for 'Green Bushes'; not a lot of additional info there, so thus-armed, over we go to the Fresno State Trad Ballad Index entries, and their cross-references and then...

From which, the chain looked something like this: Mainlynorfolk -> Trad Ballad Index -> Scots Language Centre -> Trad Tune Archive -> Mudcat forums(1)

And then, through a marvelous stroke of serendipity, and the sole reason you're not currently reading the dissertation-length essay I was writing in my head; I stumbled across this article which is the exact manifestation of that incipient train of thought/red-string corkboard:

Song Archeology: From "Earl Douglas' Lament" To "Farewell Angelina"; The Long And Twisted History Of An Old Tune Family by Jürgen Kloss

So I could then simply get on with the playlist-making. Thank goodness for equally pedantic people in this world doing the hard work for me. (definitely do go read Kloss's article tho)

[(1) Which is fairly well what my usual oddly-specific folk playlist forays look like, only scanning for breadth rather than depth in their case. Mainlynorfolk is excellent for finding recordings of songs; the Trad Ballad Index for figuring links between songs/tunes themselves; and Mudcat, my beloved, for decades-old forum threads on particular themes and genres. Add to those the other *mumble*-dozen sites and books in my 'Folk Music Resources' bookmarks folder, such as the VWML Roud Index, and I can get real granular in my playlist-themes.]

(incidentally, 'Wild Rover' also scans near-perfectly to the tune and vice-versa 'Tarwathie''s lyrics to 'Wild Rover', though I don't think the tunes are actually that similar; I also keep slipping into 'Sweet Betsy From Pike/Vilikens and His Dinah' whilst humming it, though the metre there is entirely different; and i could halfway believe an evolutionary relation to the classic come-all-ye tune such as 'Blow-ye-winds-westerly/Fish in the Sea')

So anyway, the upshot of this is I now have two new playlists to show for it: the intended Sharpe's Soundtrack one [here] and the subsidiary hour-and-a-half 3-hours+ tune family compilation [here] ✨️

Sources:

DigiTrad: https://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=8972

Kloss's site: https://www.justanothertune.com/html/tarwathie.html

Mainlynorfolk: https://mainlynorfolk.info/lloyd/songs/farewelltotarwathie.html ; https://mainlynorfolk.info/joseph.taylor/songs/greenbushes.html

Mudcat forum threads: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=40025 ; https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=93528

Scots Language Centre: https://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/node/id/400

Trad Ballad Index: https://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/DTtarwat.html ; https://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/R061.html ; https://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/LP02.html ; https://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/FJ180.html ; https://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/R740.html

Trad Tune Archive: https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Kennet%27s_Dream ; https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Johnny_Armstrong

[If any links cease to work, I've added them all to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine as well]

[sburbian-sage]

In a few of your recent posts, you've mentioned that you might be out of sync with the replayernet, and honestly, I think you might be.

I know Time is pretty fucked/nonexistant out in the furthest ring, but I got my current session's Seer of Time to look over your posts, and he's estimating with his powers that you started posting around like, seven or so years ago from our perspective? How long has it felt to you?

Regardless, the game seems to have version-drifted really far from where it once was. A ton of your old posts match up with older guides I've read, but not newer ones, and are totally inaccurate to any version of the game that I've ever personally played.

I went back through a bunch of your old stuff, and here's some updates on how they usually work now:

Dream players have that purple and beige color scheme for real now, not "transparent" as you once said (never even heard of that one before).

Void players are (much more likely to be) able to get fraymotifs now, and don't always fuck up text as badly. (varies a lot between different sessions)

"Modded" sessions seem to be much less common, and whatever the "Andern Association" you mentioned in a few posts was, it seems either dissolved, or else is now so secretive that I can't find any info on it anywhere. Meanwhile, ordinary version-drift has seemingly sped up.

Many classpects in general seem to have changed a bit over time, and many have become much rarer, but it's too much to get into all at once.

There's tons of other more recent developments but I gotta go sorry ohgodwhat in my house again fuck ill get back to you soon maybe

I don't believe I ever wrote about an Andern Associations. The one post on my blog that mentions it has a frankly funked-up formatting, I think because it was submitted by someone else (instead of sent via ask) and I failed to delineate how much was my input and how much theirs. But I don't believe I wrote any of that, so it doesn't really constitute evidence that I've undergone version drift. In fact, all accounts of modded game sessions were reports from other people, so it's really not applicable to me at all.

Granted, a lot of goofy stuff does come my way, and I might be a bit too credulous, perhaps in the interest of entertaining hypotheticals because my advice is generally good in principle, even if the specifics are shaky (like that earlier post about those weird titles, the titles might not exist, but my advice for figuring out how they work is sound no matter what). And there could also be lapses in judgement. I'm subsistence farming in the The Furthest Ring, intellectual fugue states are a common worry for me, and I might have accidentally validated the existence of things that, in hindsight, have no way of being real (I officially denounce those Double Aspect or Double Class posts, I don't know why I believed and wrote up hypothetical summaries of bugged titles when the consensus is that Title attribution is never bugged, only the Titles themselves).

But speaking of unreliable askers, the fact that you haven't ever heard of "Dream's color scheme is transparent" is suspect. Not only does purple and beige as a color scheme conflict heavily with their frankly iconic transparent glass constructs, but "Dream player ascends to godhood and wakes up buck-ass naked on Skaia" is a community meme that frankly comes up way too often in discussions of the Dream Aspect.

But that's not the only thing that bugs me. You brought up Version Drift Theory, which is not A Theory The Same Way Gravity Is A Theory, but is instead a highly speculative model of, essentially, the evolution of Genesis Frogs in an attempt to explain not only bugs and glitches, but why some people's sessions are radically different from one another. It's not an authoritative truth, it's an analytical model of sorts that some people find use for, so why are you trying to convince me that Version Drift is real and I've undergone it? Especially when my concern was never that my game version is out of synch, it was that my connection to the ringservers were out of synch. I had a gap in my knowledge concerning Cherubs, because I'm often busy performing upkeep on myself and the ship, and I worried that either my computer, my connection, or maybe my browsing habits were caught lacking, and now someone in my askbox is trying to convince me that I've undergone such severe time dilation in my Ring Journey that all of my writing is now obsolete and worthless and that SBURB is now an unrecognizably different game.

I choose to believe this ask is psychological warfare on the part of a bad faith or not very reliable actor. Not only do your session reports sound wildly out of whack, but you're trying to convince me that I'm the out of touch one? This is Spriteless Behavior, I'm living in your walls, I'm summoning demons and sending them to your dwelling spire, they're going to beat you to death with hammers, I'm going to equip hammerkind so I can do the same, also I'm a mental health risk (Ring Journey) and physically disabled (glasses) and this is a level of gaslighting that probably falls under ableism, etc. etc. I am always right and may the Ohgodwhat destroy your computer such that you never imply otherwise again.