#BASICALLY THE TITLE I'D GIVE IT TBH
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So. Lesson 23, huh. How are you all Mammon lovers holding up?
We start right where we last left it off in lesson 22 : in the Celestial Realm about to be run over by Mammon who's apparently riding a pegasus chariot (that's SO COOL THOUGH I WANT TO SEE IT IN A CARD). He crashes the thing and before anyone can get into proper introductions, Mammon hears Michael's looking for him and runs away to hide, dragging both you and Little D with him.
They keep teasing us with Michael lol but ANYWAYS. After the scare you can hug him or pinch his cheek, and also show how happy you are that he's smiling. I found it really cute.
You can ask Mammon about his deal with Michael, then he says this.
They will be the death of me I swear to god.
Mammon, convinced you're two angels (??????), asks you to go with him so that can vouch for him to Lucifer so he takes Mammon under his wing. Sure, why not?
Mammon really adored Lucifer before they became brothers and wanted Luci to be the one who supervised him, but Mammon tells you that Lucifer keeps shutting his idea down and tells him he should stay with Michael instead.
Ah, good ol' Lucifer, doing "what I think is best for people without properly talking to them". He folds quickly, though, and basically tells Mammon that he will agree to talk to Michael about it if he manages to bring to Lucifer one rose from Simeon's garden before sundown. So off we go again.
We find Simeon in said pretty garden, reading a book. However, he says that said book is a book of prophecies, and the fucker just drops this line when Mammon asks him if he's learned anything.
Thanks, now I feel like crying.
Simeon does say he's probably destined to meet you again and that he will probably lose his wings, but that it's all up to interpretation, so he's not completely sure if he got his future correctly. Oh man.
Mammon decides to ask Simeon about taking one rose, but Simeon outright says no because the roses are from Father (gulp), so they're really important. Mammon desperately tells him that it's just one rose so Lucifer finally accepts his request, that he will do anything, and Simeon almost caves, but then asks Mammon if he'd ever considered how Simeon would feel after having to give away one of the important roses he'd grown from their Father.
Mammon doesn't want to hurt Simeon, but he doesn't want to give up on his dream either. In the end, Simeon decides to finally give him the rose.
We can ask Simeon about the roses being important to him, and he says "Yes, they are, but Mammon is just as important." I need A SECOND.
Mission success. With the rose in hand, the trio goes back to Lucifer, who's surprised Mammon has managed to get the rose in the end.
He looks satisfied, though, and tells Mammon that the reason Simeon gave him the rose was because of Mammon's determination, his grip on his dreams and what he truly wants...
which is also connected to his greed.
Lucifer tells Mammon said sin can hurt those around him, and that even if then he's still determined to hold on to the hopes and desires in his heart...
Mammon's memory ends there. For now, we don't know what Lucifer said next.
The first one right in the gut. Jesus.
But I have to say this talk with Mammon is one of my favourite parts thus far:
MANNNNNNNNNNNNNN
also-
I really like the options we were given. He's got time to learn, and he's already kind, too.
SWEATS VERY NERVOUSLY.
But wait, we're not done yet, because this is when he finally remembers what was that Lucifer told him in the end.
HEY. HEY MAN. YOU CAN'T JUST HIT ME LIKE THAT. FUCK.
I wondered a lot back then in og Obey Me why was Mammon his favourite plus his most trusted brother, considering all we saw most of the time was their bickering or Lucifer chasing after an "irresponsible" Mammon. Sure, they had their moments, but nothing it's impacting me harder than their moments here in Nightbringer. I'm so glad we get to see them so close. It warms my heart a lot, because I did think Mammon deserved better treatment. I'm really happy they're showing how important he is to Lucifer and all of his siblings, plus how he's just... Mammon, not an idiot that gets hung from the ceiling or someone who bursts in when mc's having a moment with someone else. He's just Mammon, the Avatar of Greed.
When we wake up in Mammon's room after this, the new title is "Holding on to Hope." Whew man.
He gives you a hug first thing to make sure he's really back, too. He's the absolute best.
He feels really bad he put you through his outburst, too, and wants to make it up to you.
Sounds like a perfect way to settle things, honestly. WE GOT OUR FIRST PACT.
FINALLY. MAMMON HAD TO BE THE FIRST, OBVIOUSLY.
The final part of the lesson is about how Mammon is back to his usual level of greediness (and also really peppy and is pissing Belphegor off lol). Lucifer thanks you too, and you tell him that part of Mammon's recovery is thanks to his words back in the Celestial Realm. They all go back to normal, with Satan summoning something at breakfast because Mammon pissed him off and Lucifer having to intervene pffft.
Also, they mention this off handedly, but it soon becomes relevant: Asmo is missing from breakfast. It made me go "uh oh. He's next, isn't he."
Pan to the next scene:
Yup, he's next.
I actually had to go and look up the order of the pacts we make with the demon brothers in the og game because I wasn't sure if Asmo was second. I thought since Mammon was first that they were going to follow the same pact order, but it seems like it's not. In the og game Mammon was first, then Leviathan, Beel, Asmo, Satan, Belphie and lastly Lucifer. But here it seems Asmo is going to be second.
It breaks my heart a bit because in lesson 22 Asmo was terrified of ending up just like Mammon when he was fully consumed by his Greed aaaaa. We've already had a trip to the Celestial Realm with Asmo though, so I wonder if they're going to do the same thing as Mammon (showing the reason he chose to join Lucifer) or do something else entirely. We have to wait until next Friday to see it.
The extra scene takes place a bit after both Mammon and you wake up, leaving him to rest a bit while you go meet the rest of the brothers to give them an update. Simeon goes down memory lane about all the times Mammon had tried to get Lucifer's attention, including one time he went to grab a crystal lily for Luci, got himself lost and Lucifer had to go and fetch him. Another time he blew the kitchen up trying to cook dinner for Lucifer's birthday lmfao and when Lucifer's about to join in the fun of telling Mammon's old stories, Mammon bursts in and begs him to stop HAHAH
Okay this part was really cute www I love them.
After finishing the lesson you get a video call too! AGAIN! This time is just Mammon and you (before Levi and Beel join in), with Mammon begging you to keep quiet about the hug he gave you. It's short and funny. I wish I could add more than 30 pictures so I could show you Levi's 3d face here, because it had me cracking up lmfao
The hard mode scene takes place in Mammon's room as he's wondering if you two have really made a pact after all, because he feels no different and you should have a bit of his powers. As if on cue, you get a message that you've won the lottery and Satan pops in to give you money as thanks of giving him his wallet back a few days prior.
You use the stay command too, and Mammon comments that it's stronger now. That's a good sign that you're getting your powers back!
I'm really curious to see what it'll happen with Asmo ;u; and who the next brother will be, since it seems to be random (unless I'm missing something. It's not birth order, nor previous pact order either....). We shouldn't forget about that prophecy book, either. I don't trust any off-hand mentions in this game lmao.
Oh, and the German titles for the cards in normal mode this round are: Slothful Sieben for Belphie, and then it switches to different titles for the others. Great Acht for Diavolo, Confident Neun for Barbatos and Sacred Zehn for Luke. Simeon and Solomon are the only ones missing, then come the other three undateables (I think).
That's all for this week!
Edit: LESSON 24!!
#Anne plays obey me! Nightbringer#nightbringer spoilers#Mammon feels: the lesson#BASICALLY THE TITLE I'D GIVE IT TBH#obey me! nightbringer#obey me!
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A New Look?
Alternative title: What I would give genshin guys to wear
Basically Reverse isekai but now you gotta make normal outfits for the characters so they don't stick out like a sore thumb. It can also be read as modern AU outfits if you prefer
Characters in order:
Heizou, Xiao, Albedo, Zhongli, Wanderer, Kaeya, Venti, Ayato, Diluc, Kazuha
Honestly heizou would be an easy pick. Old fashioned British detective style. Sherlock Holmes, trench coats, shades of brown, all that jazz. Also, give him access to true crime podcasts, he'll never be bored again.
I'd give xiao the ol' hot topic skater fit. Black, band tees, lots of rings and jewelry, fake pieces, ripped jeans, yeaa. It matches his personality too. Not with fashion but if you do get band t shirts tell him alot about said band just incase one of those "name five members or your not a true fan" people talk to him.
Albedo gets the light academia scholar outfits. Kinda chill, collared shirts, lighter colors, shades of brown and blue. Some gold every once in a while. Loose fitting stuff. Flowy sleeves. Lots of rings. Maybe one or two gold necklaces that he wears every once in a while. The type of outfits you see those aesthetic college student wearing. Maybe a bit of cottagecore. Lots of white shirts.
Zhongli would look like that one professor that everybody has a crush on tbh. Not as formal as what he wears in game but still, collared shirts, suits once in a while, always wears a tie, owns one dark brown trench coat that he wears everywhere at all costs. Lots of darker browns with gold accents here and there. Not a necklace kinda guy but wears a good amount of rings. Totally has reading glasses. Has alot of custom hair pins for some reason? Idk I just feel like he does. Has 100 pairs of dress shoes, and like one pair of black boots. Nothing else. Also If you give him his own closet it's so organized. Spotless, everything fits in the closet right, its honestly impressive.
Wanderer would be alot like Xiao. Hot topic's no. 1 customer. He'd have more of a blue and purple color scheme than black though. Actually listens to all the bands he has shirts of. Big punk fan. Wears this one black beanie with a skull on it basically every day. His shoe game is good, like really good. Had alot of platform shoes so he can look taller. Lots of cropped shirts that looked ripped. No long sleeves, short sleeves and sleeveless tees. An absolute MASTER at makeup, specifically eyeliner. Lotsssss of turtlenecks.
Ooohoho now Kaeya would be f u n to style. Has a more simple style. Those pinterest dudes?? Yeah, think of that. Plain colored shirts, turtlenecks alot, almost never sleeveless. Lots of long sleeves stuff.
Give him one of those black corsets that I always see, since he wears one on his original outfit. Wears necklaces, but doesnt layer them or anything. One simple necklace at a time. A TON of silver rings. Hes got those pinterest guy hands. Wears sheer black gloves. Has this one cropped blue jacket but it's more of a sweater and he always wears it when layering clothing.
Hanging earrings are necessary for him. Has a belt with a snowflake design on it that he uses alot. Almost never wears sweaters. Wears blue, grey, and black almost religiously.
Ahhh venti :) Think similar to albedos but more Victorian than college student vibes. Again, long sleeves, flowy, lotssss of ruffles, has a generous amount of green accents. Has this one emerald necklace that resembles a vision somewhat and he adores it. Never takes it off. Not a giant ring person, but has around a thousand hats. Paper boy hats in green, might own a bucket hat or two? Hes got the whole hat-universe. Always wear white socks that go just below his knees with EVERYTHING. Has multiple pairs and some are a bit more sheer than the others. Has a pair or two of white fingerless gloves to wear with long sleeves, and full, white and sheer gloves he wears when he isnt wearing long sleeves. White button ups are his life. Usually doesnt tuck said button ups in. (Totally not a walking mitski reference)
Ayato isnt THAT complex. And he's got similar style to Zhongli, but complety different color schemes. Wears suits often, and they follow a pattern. White shirt, black tie, light blue suit jacket. The icon of white pants, he basically never wears anything else. For smaller accessories they're usually dark blue or black in color. Not a ring person either, but wears one or two black rings occasionally. Has earrings but not dangly ones. Just black studs. Has alot of dark blue hair pins to keep his hair back. Theres no way his hair naturally just stays that way ok?? Every single boba place within 40 miles knows his name and face by memory. Wears the same looking black shoes all the time.
Diluc is probably another trench coat kinda guy. Less suits, more trench coats for him. In the fancy looking suit and tie gang with Ayato and Zhongli. Usually wears black button ups instead of white ones, with a crimson red tie and a brown trench coat, or a white tie and a darker red coat. Totally not an accessories guy. No necklaces, earrings, and maybe just one single gold rings he wears once every century. Another black shoes only person. I feel like the coats he wear have some fur on them in places. Just a thought. Always carries around like 3 extra hair ties in his pocket just in case he need one.
Kazuha is a comfy clothing icon. Not one for a thousand things on his outfits for aesthetic purposes, just wears what he likes and adds accessories if he feels like it. And absolute king of the fall outfit aesthetic. Outfits usually consists of slightly baggy autumn colored shirts, always short sleeves. Sweatpants or just light colored/bleached cuffed jeans. (Yes I said CUFFED) And occasionally has a darker colored orange and red knit sweater over him. Probably has one or two necklaces on at a time. Always wears this one necklace with a gold chain and a maple leaf charm on it. A gold colored accessories person. Most of the rings he has are gold. Has his ears pierced and usually wears black or gold studs. Sonetimes he wears dangly earrings but nothing to crazy. Ties his hair back a lot less.
(I wrote this on the train lmao)
#genhsin impact#genshin#genshin rambles#isekai#reverse isekai#sagau#sagau x reader#self aware genshin#heizou#xiao#zhongli#ayato#diluc#venti#kazuha#albedo#heizou x reader#xiao x reader#zhongli x reader#ayato x reader#diluc x reader#venti x reader#kazuha x reader#albedo x reader#Sagau x reader#genshin modern au
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The Higher Ups in Wrath of the Wishmaster
So, just wanted to dump my brain worms here, and talk about the OC gods that just got introduced in the 3 part instalment of Wrath of the Wishmaster that I posted.
I'd like to introduce the Higher Ups. They're basically the upper management of the pantheon, only answering to The Boss themselves. Their power and rulings override pretty much everyone else, unless the Boss intervenes. They cannot be removed from reality, stripped of their titles, demoted, or even harmed.
You've already met one, the Organizer but there's two others: the Observer and the Judge! So, let's go through their deal one by one.
The Organizer
Let's start with the one y'all have officially met, the Organizer. As the name would imply, she is the goddess in charge of the organization, planning, and paperwork of the entire pantheon. She's the one to deal with write ups, complaints, requests, and record keeping. She has a file on pretty much everything to have ever lived in the multiverse, all perfectly sorted in an infinite records room. She's always super busy. She's also Orbo's direct supervisor, and by extension Scarab's. She's the one who sends the official orders for Auditors to go after rule breakers.
The Observer
The Observer is a rarely seen god, but he works closely with the Organizer. He is in charge of overseeing all activity across the multiverse, particularly with anyone powerful enough to jump between universes, and the other gods. He has seen everything that has ever happened (and rumor says ever will happen) in the multiverse. He hands off this information to the Organizer for storage, and is the primary source of information for sentencing cosmic crimes. He also is the one to confirm or reject complaints and write ups from the Organizer. He commands any and all gods responsible for gathering information within the cosmos.
The Judge
The Judge is the main authority of what is and isn't a cosmic crime. It is them who decides what punishments are delivered to what write ups, who does and does not belong in the Citadel, and is the one to mark individuals as cosmic threats. If someone is marked a target, the information is given to the Organizer to then give the order to Auditors. Of the higher ups, they're the one most often seen, both by mortals and by other gods. It is them you must plead your case to if you're demanding help or mercy from the gods. Unless the Boss intervenes, the Judge can grant or strip any of the lesser gods their title and immortality. They ultimately created the Citadel and the guardians. Not surprisingly, they were a bit salty after the whole Lich fiasco.
Other notes:
Some gods don't directly answer to one of these three. Gods like Prismo and the Cosmic Owl pretty much only answer to the Boss, as it's their power they're tapping into to grant wishes and make dreams prophetic.
All three of the Higher Ups are able to pass down punishment to gods if the transgression is not considered serious. For example, in the last part of Gala of the Gods, if Prismo and Scarab actually did major damage to the Judgement Hall, the Organizer would be sending them straight to the Judge.
Someone on AO3 suggested it and I liked it a lot so I'm including it: The Organizer was kind of Scarab's mentor figure. She was pretty much the only god he really spoke to as he transitioned from mortal to immortal. They stopped talking after Scarab lost his bid for Wishmaster to Prismo. He kind of blamed her for making him think he had a chance when literally everyone else was telling him to not even bother. More on that relationship in the next chapter.
The Observer is terrifying. No one but other Higher Ups talks to the Observer. Even other gods risk going mad by looking upon him.
The Judge is so tired of everyone's bullshit. So is the Organizer tbh. Get them some coffee, dammit.
Golb/Golbetty can technically be considered a Higher Up since their power overrides Prismo's, but Golb is kind of seperate from the cosmic hierarchy. They're a chaotic nightmare, on the same level as the Higher Ups, but not technically one of them.
#prohibitedwish#wrath of the wishmaster#scarab the god auditor#prismo the wishmaster#worldbuilding nonsense: GO!
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I wish we knew more about the other Vanserra brothers, SJM didn’t say much besides they are horrible people basically…do you have any HCs for them?
ugh, me too. i refuse to believe the vanserra family is that fucked up to where they never got along and they all dislike each other. i know beron has been pitting them against each other for literally centuries smh.
So, in my fictional universe, the order of the brothers is as follows: Eris, Pyrolas (Pyro), Conleth (aka Connie 🥹), Oakland (Oak), Finch & Foxe (twins, both deceased), and Lucien.
We know Eris. We love Eris.
Pyro, man what a hot head. We've discovered a little bit about him through You Know I Always Liked Playing with Fire. He's messy. Second born, second best. Never enough to live up to his older brother. Beron has pitted them against each other for the longest time. Deep down, Pyro really just wants someone to be proud of him. But he's a little twisted because he's never had love and all he's seen is the piss poor excuse of a father treating his mom like shit. Except for when he found out about Lucien and his partner. There was a flicker of guilt as he watched the twins pin Lu down while his lover perished before them all. He's so incredibly hurt that he takes it out on others, on his brothers, parents, people of the court, his partners. He wants someone to hurt as much as he hurts. He's a master at the art of façade. No one knows that he wants love because he's so good at pretending he doesn't need it and pushing people away.
Connie, my baby. Ngl I had him as deceased for a bit until that anon reminded me that he was alive. so here he is, im introducing him. Conleth is third born, middle of the pack. he's pretty docile compared to pyro, but he really does enjoy the simple of things in life. he's second mommy's boy, coming after the biggest mommy's boy of all, eris. he's lethal with a bow but those skilled hands are good at many things, like in the bedroom or in the kitchen. he can make a mean pie. i'm feeling as i write this that he's just like us and has a MAD crush on cass and az, have you seen those wings? those powerful bodies? cuz connie dreams of it (he's just like me fr). he keeping it much on the down low because of daddy Ber.
Oakland, love him. Oak is the rational one. He appears in The Autumn Chill, and he's the one that none of the brothers can ever stay mad at. He's the mediator, the strategist. He sees everything and anything and is ever-calculating. Everyone adores him, he's so sweet, but can also put on a show when he needs to, just as all of them can. In Creepy Campfire, we see his playful side, joining in on his brothers jokes because he likes it when his brothers are happy. He wants a better world for his court even though he knows that berons power probably won't fall to him after he dies, he'll stick by the brother that does and off him his intelligence.
Then there's Finch and Foxe. I can see them being like night and day or super fucking similar. cliche to say night and day, i know, but what if they were fire and wind? Foxe gives more bad boy than Finch (who will do whatever his twin asks of him) and they're trouble makers through and through. Foxe is fire while Finch is wind (appropriately named). Where Foxe sets a blazing fire Finch is there to add fuel to the flames. They back each other and aren't worried for title of heir to the throne because they know it won't happen for some time, they'll discuss it when the time nears, if it should happen. both playboys, and i bet they've even shared women between the both of them too. they give that vibe, as strange as it sounds. But, they are no longer, killed off by Lucien and Tam in the books and also in Safe Haven. They held down Lu while Beron killed his lover and they found sick delight in watching, in having a hand in it. They're both twisted as hell tbh.
And of course, Lucien. We know him and we love him too.
so yeah, i guess this is how i'd view them in my personal world 🤷🏼♀️😅
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You mentioned how authors are forced to write differently with trad publishing vs indie , which ones do u mean? I'm curious...
"Forced" probably isn't the right word, but "heavily encouraged" [by the companies signing the checks] is closer.
Here's the thing with traditional publishing right now. You walk into a bookstore or Target or whatever--you may very well find some very high heat books. I've seen Sierra Simone in Target. However, all those titles were originally published independently, and Sierra works with a publisher who essentially strikes a deal where they handle print and get the books into those stores, whereas (from what I can tell) she maintains the digital rights.
Traditional publishing offers some releases that are quite high heat, but like... Tessa Bailey's trad books, for example, aren't touching the upper echelons of indie in terms of heat. Because trad is meant to appeal to as broad an audience as possible, and tbh, trad has been swinging safer in a lot of ways.
Ali Hazelwood's books are praised for being high heat--The Love Hypothesis only has one full sex scene, though it's long. If you've read Ali's fanfiction (... which I have) she writes way dirtier than that. She mentioned on a podcast that when they were shopping TLH, she was encouraged by her agent to trim the sex down to make her MS more appealing to publishers. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about.
With historical romance, I think there's a little more tension, because trad is very confused about who they're marketing historicals to. Like, some of them still seem to be pointed towards conservative white ladies imo--women who want a very sort of... straight, missionary, wait until the wedding night type of historical. Whereas I think they should be making more of an appeal to a younger gen. Some of them seem to be basically giving up on that, though. But I digress.
ANYWAY.
Authors I can think of right now--Minerva Spencer writes indie historical romance under the pen name S.M. LaViolette. Some of the LaViolette books are straight up erotic historical romance so obviously they're higher heart than her trad books. But even those that aren't are much higher heat than her traditional books. Like Hyacinth for example--not an erotic historical imo, but it has waaaay more sex scenes, and more creativity (hero coming untouched during a whipping scene, butt stuff which you HARDLY EVER see in trad historicals).
Joanna Shupe has published trad and indie HR. I consider her books on the higher heat end of trad historicals. However, if you read her indie novellas, they are higher heat, they're kinkier--all that. Lol never mind her mafia romances which are a very different game. In indie, Joanna did a BIG age gap romance, a virgin auction romance, a scene where the hero licked up his come and the heroine's ~virgin's blood~ after he deflowers her... you're not gonna see that in trad lol.
Eva Leigh also writes on the higher end of the heat scale in trad, but her indie historicals are different--and it isn't just the explicitness or quantity. As with Joanna, it's the kink, too. The creativity. She wrote MFM, age play, etc. You can just go a lot further.
And I mean? I would also say that you can see a big difference in authors that aren't hybrid. Grace Callaway has tons of sex scenes in her historicals, and they're long and creative and she DOES in fact include butt stuff in the books! Nicola Davidson does really fun poly historicals. When Sierra Simone wrote historicals, there was obviously group sex, kinky stuff, etc.
You just see a really big chasm, bigger than I'd say you see with other subgenres, between trad HR and indie HR. And I can only assume that it's because of an industry pressure. With indie, you can do whatever you want. With trad, there's a standard to conform to because before you sell to readers, you're selling to a publisher.
#romance novel blogging#and to be clear lol i do love trad books by all of the above authors... like most of their books!#i'm just kinda mad at how trad treats historicals
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it's just music...
it's pretty obvious that @theoldsmelly and myself really love music. i mean why else would we devote so many years, so many hours every. single. week. to curating these playlists, a block of time every sunday (for me, not smelly, lol) to drafting all this into this here tumblr machine and, and then take the time to introduce them to you in our own special way.
i mean, honestly, we usually just doing this but whatever.
when this playlist was first started, i was pleasantly surprised to see that the first few songs smelly had added were not just basic songs with music in the title, but really about music, and all the genres of music. that makes it so much more fun, and gives us a chance to play a wide (ish) variety of music. i mean it's mostly the stuff we are already drawn to, but we both firmly believe we have superior taste and never miss a chance to let those around us know.
while most of you may think that i am pretty firmly entrenched in the 80s (and wouldn't be that wrong tbh) i actually do spend a lot of time listening to new music. and i will call out @theoldsmelly for being the primary person who turns me on to all sorts of new stuff i might not hear if he wasn't my pal. he is my north star for new, and i'm guessing that maybe more than a few of you have discovered some new band or new song you like through him....
so... it's appropriate that we have a playlist that celebrates some of the kinds of music out there.
you know what's next....music.
love (that looks like i'd get stabbed by it) axiomatic and the old (thought i'd get stabbed moving that chandelier) smelly
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just finished reading 17776 (warning for those who haven't heard of it: there's a very mild jump scare on the initial page). overall it was basically what i expected - which is good, because i'd heard a lot of good things about it!
some scattered thoughts:
this is one of the most measured takes on immortality i've seen in a piece of media, and probably the one that most closely aligns to how i feel about the concept. it doesn't go the whole "immortality is a curse" route, which i've always thought was pure sour grapes, but it does acknowledge the very real problems that we'd run into when faced with eternity. one of my favorite quotes by a fictional character is from mr. peanutbutter in bojack horseman: "the key to being happy isn't the search for meaning; it's just to keep yourself busy with unimportant nonsense, and eventually, you'll be dead." and turns out he's right, even if eventually we won't be dead.
the sheer level of cultural and societal stagnation strikes me as a little far-fetched, but i understand that it serves several important functions (reinforces the story's themes about contentedness; keeps things more grounded and comprehensible for the reader; a source of humor), so i'll let it slide.
one of my favorite moments was when the 500 ball crashes into the bulb: in the video leading up to it, the unsettling music, the dread in ten and juice's voices, and even the title of the chapter ("No no no no no no.") lead you to believe that something terrible is going to happen and that the stakes are suddenly about to become much, much bigger. what is about to be destroyed? is it something related to the nanomachines? is this going to cause humanity's long period of rest and relaxation to finally end? and then... it turns out it was just about a light bulb that's been burning for a long time. but then, you realize that, in a world almost entirely free of loss, something like this really is as tragic as it gets: an irreplaceable piece of history from the before-times is gone forever. it's a great little double subversion of expectations.
the focus on football is the most conflicting element of the story for me. on the one hand, i know nothing about and do not care at all about football. on the other hand, the story is clearly not really about football, and anyways in the story it's evolved into something completely unrecognizable from the sport today. on the other other hand, it's written by someone who does actually care a lot about football, and it comes through in the writing, so there is a certain element of the story that feels inaccessible to me. on the other other other hand, i think the genuine passion that bois has for the subject gives the story a level of specificity that couldn't have been achieved any other way. ultimately, i think i personally would've liked it if the story had been mostly the same but centered around something i cared more about (i know there's also thematic relevance around it being football specifically because of america and whatever but tbh i don't care as much about that as i do the broader themes about humanity), but given who the creator is, i'm glad they wrote it the way they did.
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Rating Extended Zodiac Sign Titles by how accurate I think they are
Rating done from the personalities from trolls with that sign or just generally how I jive with them
Rustbloods
True Aries- Sign of the Excavator 10/10 no notes, those girls do excavate
Arsces- Sign of the Pilgrim 4/10 I like how it sticks to the adventurous nature of rusties but ehhhhh..... For a canon dreamspect I'd expect a little more pizzaz
Arrius- Sign of the Visualizer 3/10 huh??? I can kinda see the Ampora connections with them being daydreamers/fantasizers but unless this is a very long roundabout Burger Tulpa reference what does visualization have to do with Diemen???
Ariborn- Sign of the Escapee 9/10 I was originally gonna give this a 1 since I kinda thought this had nothing to do with Xefros and then I remembered... Xefros is very much an escapee. Cruelty to my favourite boy knocks a point off.
Arittarius- Sign of the Astronaut 2/10 what? Doesn't have ANYTHING to do with marsti nor rusties in general. Point gained from astronaut being a nice word
Arpia- Sign of the Examiner 8/10 OBSESSED with the implications of the derse/light sign for the rustbloods being the Examiner. Sooooo many implications. Would of been a full 10 if the sign had two extra arrows to make it look even more roseian
Arza- Sign of the Inevitable 1/10 edgy and vague YAWN
Arga- Sign of the Trailblazer 9/10 I'm biased. Fuck you.
Aro- Sign of the Lost 10/10 THE IMPLICATIONS (fyi this is fozzers sign so IF U KNOW U KNOW)
Arcen- Sign of the Companion 10/10 once again, no notes. Blood aspect tied in perfectly.
Armini- Sign of the Reconciler 10/10 the rust sign... That has sollux's dreamspect.... Is the reconciler AUGHHHHH MY POOR ARASOL HWART
Arun- Sign of the Impetuous 9/10 makes sense with dreamspect and caste. Nothing to say. Other than being an annoying word that I had to search up
Arist- Sign of the Headstrong 7/10 Time players and Prospitians tend to be headstrong... Other than that not much else to it
Arsci- Sign of the Medic- 3/10 would of been AWESOME if the Prospit/Life jade or tealblood (jades r carers, teal 4 jane) was the medic but rust? Nahhh...... Nah.
Arnius- Sign of the Heedless 3/10 after ~5 signs that all basically say "rough and tough and kinda stupid" you kinda just get a bit tired of them doesn't really make sense for prospit/hope neither. Jake was kinda heedless but it wasn't like that had to do with his dreamspect
Aricorn- Sign of the Runaway 8/10 once again THE IMPLICATIONS
Arittanius- Sign of the Voyager 3/10 once again the void signs making 0 sense. Was amused how we have the astronaut and the voyager
Arpio- Sign of the Seeker- The vriska dreamspect for the rustbloods being the *seeker*? AOAHDJSJSU MY ARAVRIS HEART<3<
Arra- Sign of the Wayward 4/10 disappointing tbh, could be a callback to the revenge cycle and aradia being a "wayward" soul but ehhhhh thats a stretch
Argo- Sign of the Zenith 5/10 I bet whoever named this one thought they were being REAL cute calling a SPACE sign the ZENITH (upper region of the sky) well they were right. It was cute. Still doesn't make sense for rusties though
Arlo- Sign of the Mirage 1/10 yeah.... No. No idea.
Arcer- Sign of the Officer 3/10 COULD be a reference to karkat being a threshie but... Disappointed. Especially with how cool a sign it is
Armino- Sign of the Static 2/10 no clue on this one either.
Arus- Sign of the Wanderer 7/10 rounding us off on a good average one which fits the dreamspect, canon character and caste. Well done arus, well done.
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I have always loved Skinny Puppy’s “Last Rights” but I feel like this year has really been a year of returning to it and sitting with it and exploring it deeper than I ever have before and I’m quickly becoming convinced it’s one of their all-time best albums and also just one of the most masterfully composed albums of all time tbh.
It is just so cohesive and everything feels so neatly interwoven. From the cover with its sickly smoggy greens and yellows and oranges in this desolate surreal wasteland littered with skulls and gargoyles and angels and demons, crumbling pillars that almost evoke a burial ground of some ancient city or temple, and the NAMES of each song which all just feel so dark and surreal even before hearing them— Love in Vein, Killing Game, Knowhere?, Mirror Saw, Inquistion, Scrapyard, Riverz End, Lust Chance, Circustance, Download. I feel like it all feels very desolate and very dark and totally evocative of that same wasteland feel as the album cover. And that’s just the presentation, not even getting into the actual sound of the songs yet.
We semi-know what was going on when the album was written and what it’s about to some extent through interviews with Ogre; he was going through the very worst of his addiction, struggling with a bad breakup and a psychotic breakdown and it all sounds like all of those things were feeding into each other in a really vicious cycle. He was self harming on stage for this tour, he had a seizure in the recording studio at one point.
“I was basically trapped in my apartment, only escaping to get more drugs to sustain the delusion that was going on. I was having massive amounts of hallucinations, there were lights coming out of the walls and I was under the impression that I was being watched by people very closely, and that there was a demonic force that was slowly closing in on me and just harassing me until I committed suicide, basically. It wouldn't leave me alone. I couldn't stop doing drugs because it was too painful to stop doing drugs and face what I'd become. And whenever I did drugs, as soon as I put the needle in my arm and injected the cocaine into my body, it was like turning on all the sound, all the vision, all of the hallucination...this was something very twisted and very real. And at the time I was being harassed by some people who knowledge with occupying different transient fields of energy, which I believe they did.” [source]
I feel like the progression of the album is just so striking. “Love in Vein” as an opening track, title itself evoking the moment of shooting up and the collapse begins. The opening “Dreams not waking,” capturing this imagery of the drugged out “main character” of the album there in squalor, shooting up to escape reality, wasting away. The album flows in and out of coherency and it’s mostly downwards from there. “Killing Game” is the most concious and lucid song on the album, which fades immediately to “Knowhere?” which is one of the most desolate, disturbing, heavy, chaotic songs I think I know of. It really sounds like the ambiance of a smoggy post apocalyptic wasteland full of half-functioning machinery, animal bones caught in oil spills and tar, exhaust fumes melting lungs, with Ogre’s screaming “One day you will have no one to run to.”
The disorganized incoherent anger giving way to the much much more subdued “Mirror Saw” feels like the moment during a bad trip when you come back to semi-lucid semi-reality and are punched in the gut by self awareness. This moment where you ask yourself “What’s happened to me?” Or in the song’s case, “What’s become of me and you?” Most definitely thinking of the same person who was the target of the anger in “Knowhere?” The song is less coherent than previous ones—the descent downwards continues on even as emotions blur together and shift and evolve in and out of reality—but it feels like a moment attempting to break free from the altered state psychosis into something more conscious. But it’s too late for full lucidity. I picture “Mirror Saw” as one laying on the floor and staring up, looking at popcorn ceiling morphing into angels that morph into demons, noises playing from an old television just out of view so all you can hear is this chaotic cacophony of sounds, unable to fully parse what’s outside in the real world, what’s on the TV, and what’s in your head.
The themes of destruction of the home, the physical space itself, wrapped in metaphor surrounding the destruction of relationship and love and life itself—the dead baby crashing through the windows, the guilt crashing through the ceiling, the invasion of privacy and lack of safety one feels when exposed in the wake of destruction—is a prevalent theme throughout the album but especially in “Mirror Saw.” Alongside absolutely fucking masterful musical composition and mixing from cEvin, Dwayne, and Rave, inserting bits of angelic choral sounds that feel almost sinister in their ominous presence. Songs become more and more incoherent at the same time as Ogre’s vocals becoming less strong and less coherent. “Scrapyard” cutting in and out in these jagged discordant bits and pieces of noise without rhyme or reason. The album loses any sort of musical structure save for certain sound motifs echoing across various sonic landscapes as the album progresses further and further into madness.
“Circustance,” the last song before “Download” and the very last time we hear Ogre’s voice. The angel motifs and soft voices and sounds drifting about over the cacophony of discordant noise — the song is also incrediblyyyy erratic and lacks any linear structure — as Ogre sings “I looked upon the circus in the sky … Make it go away, make it go away,” the sort of transformation of the heavenly into something cartoonish and comical and fictitious, the irony of the circus jingles overlaid, the lyrics being purely bits and pieces of words and phrases, total incoherence as he witnesses this distorted Heaven up above him (more mentions of the ceiling, he’s still laying there in the rotting room, these are all still just visions). The song picks up in energy again and for a split second it feels like coherent (sludgy, droning) rhythm before it ends and we shift into “Download”…
…I think it was Dani who said that “Download” struck her for it being the final song and its complete absence of Ogre vocals, like he’s been fully overtaken or his voice has been lost. That really stuck with me. At risk of sounding corny “Download” sounds like an interpretation of dying. The discordant chaos and sound, the sounds of previous songs returning in distorted bits and pieces as distant motifs, the DMT release, electronic noise that’s incomprehensibly inhuman, life flashing before your eyes in fragments, the chaos increasing through the death throes, battling and resistance to hang on, until finally everything quiets down and turns to soft lulling whirs, breathing slowing, resistance subsiding, and the last 5 minutes of the song feels like floating, drifting away to calm nothing. And that’s how “Last Rights” ends.
I think you can interpret the album as almost happening in real-time, from The needle is warm at the point of shooting up to “I look upon the circus in the sky” as the final fractured thoughts before overdose/death, or just as an exploration of that point in Ogre’s life, perhaps as a sort of speculative piece on if he had succumbed to the intrusive suicidal ideation he described feeling at that point or if he had ended up dying to all the other inflictions at that point, be it overdose or a secondary symptom of the drug use (ex. the seizures, or even the frequent mentions he describes through the album of heart attack, head exploding, etc). Either way it just floors me listening through it all as a single piece how coherent it is, how dark it is, how much it all blends together into this genuinely disturbing piece of music that captures addiction and psychosis so well, the interwoven musical motifs and lyrical motifs and the constant imagery evoked of this totally desolate living space that’s crumbling both inside and out, haunted, plagued by angels and demons, the sort of Jacob’s Ladder sentimentality as the lines between the demonic and the angelic blur together, all both literally and metaphorically, where one can’t tell what’s really happening and what’s symbolic and what’s just a hallucination, how much of it is just spent through the eyes of the narrator staring up at a blank ceiling.
Like… goddamn. This is nowhere near a complete write-up but I just really wanted to get some of my thoughts out. It is such a harrowing piece of music and I actually feel like it’s somewhat underrated (although I know amongst Puppy people it’s beloved) in how beautifully crafted it is on all fronts. There is nothing else quite like it at all.
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do you have any resources for things for a caregiver to ask a new playmate? I started playing with a lb recently, we've only met twice but both times we jumped into it so quickly, and I feel a little lost and out of my depth. Always before I'd played with partners that I knew inside and out before we ever played together, but this lb is just as new to me as a person as he is my little. he's also more experienced in the scene than me and it all is leading to me feeling a bit like a failure tbh. your posts are so well thought out, I've been lurking your blog for an hour or so now, so I also wanted to say how much I appreciate all the thought and hard work you put out there for us. you have a really great resource here.
First: you are not a failure at all. You're new to this particular person and dynamic, which is different. You're new to this person, this dynamic experience, their expectations and style... it's impossible for you to know any better what to do and you haven't been getting any instruction! Give yourself a break and be gentle about this. The feeling of failure comes from not meeting expectations, but often the expectations are your own and not even your partner's, ok? So be gentle with yourself, and congratulate yourself on doing the right things and trying to learn and read on this stuff!!
Second; I'm so flattered you think so highly of me and thank you! You might not know this, but my old blog (sciencescribbler) had a lot of the kind of posts You're looking for... but it was deleted by tumblr and I don't know where to get that old resource. But I can happily help and offer my thoughts and advice?
Personally, I suggest you try to not jump into this quite that fast until you have a better idea of what you AND he are wanting. Some really basic stuff you'd do in any dynamic with a degree of power exchange and D/s dynamics is set the expectations.
The best way to do that is ask, talk, and share. Below are some good basic questions to start this off that might be useful. Keep in mind that you will need to answer your own questions back, and have a full dialogue.
What is your "little" range? Do you see yourself as a little, a regressor, a submissive, a slave, a baby boy or baby girl? Is this associated with a specific age range or role or is it more fluid?
Is this roleplay to you, or a true part of your identity and needs as an adult?
How often do you want this dynamic and to what degree? For example: do you want mommy to make some rules for you to follow every day like a bedtime, diapering routine, rule system, etc? Or is it more about the titles, and the idea of the thing than the daily structure?
Speaking of titles: what is yours and your partners in all this? Mommy? Mommy domme? Mistress? Girlfriend? Is this a poly thing, monogamous, aaaand is it built focused on the kink dynamics or the vanilla friendship at its core?
What are your kinks, fetishes, and interests in this dynamic?
What are your "limits", hard and soft, and can you explain why those are your limits?
What are your desires from me as a mommy, a partner, or an owner? Is this expected to be full time, the core of our interactions? Or is this a fun thing we do to get off on the bedroom? Neither is wrong but it can't be a huge mismatch between you two, or you'll both end up feeling unfulfilled.
What are your favorite little activities?
What are ways you love to be reminded you're my little one? How can you show ME as the dominant your submission and obedience?
Do you have little items, like favorite stuffies or blankets or things you watch or do? If so, tell me about them! By connecting with your little one's interests and specific littlespace items you might find the role easier yourself?
What makes you FEEL subby, or little? What are things to avoid that maybe break your headspace?
My final, likely best advice: you feel unsure and like a failure often because you're not able to provide what someone wants. Often, the very gentle mommy domme and daddy dom community are filled with people who are filled up by serving someone else's needs and guiding them... but that also means they're often needing that validation and success to feel like they're a good caregiver or dominant. But you're not failing: you don't have the core, basic, fundamental information to get started with. Until you know their kinks, limits, expectations, set your own rules and standards, and agree to how you're both going to interact, you CAN'T succeed because you don't yet know what success even looks like.
And don't, ever, EVER let anyone make you feel like a failure for their jumping into things without giving you the basics you need. I'd strongly recommend you have a nice calm, blame free chat about what you both like and want, and see if that can help!
And the other secret advice I give every Dominant??? Confidence is key: you're taking the role of dominant, controlling your Partner and your interactions. You don't necessarily have to FEEL confident... but you're setting the rules. Take confidence in your own ability, and if you fake it to start, it will eventually become real confidence! After all, success and repetition breed confidence.
As for basic things to do as a mommy or daddy or caregiver: you can never go wrong with gentle teasing, frequent diaper or pull up checks, effectively teasing them by treating them like a precocious and overly eager toddler! Make them hold your hand crossing the street, wipe their face with a damp cloth after meals, ask if they need to go potty, limit them to only kids TV or movies, set their wardrobe, give them a bedtime routine, etc.
And if I get any good older posts of my old blog I'll send them along, if they're relevant!
Give yourself credit: you're already making them feel little if they do it with you to start... and you are only going to get better. Don't see this as failure: see it as the start of a new thing you're just learning the details of!
Good luck, friend! If you need more info on basics of this kinda thing, I also suggest checking out advice for any new D/s dynamic, as the majority of the same advice will be applied here!
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Season 3 Ramble#2 - “romance" lol ver.3
This month’s episode is all about romance, the third time around now and somehow I find myself with yet another tweak in format. Guess that just goes to show that love comes in many forms. In any case this month’s format isn’t that different from last time. I’ve still split my reads into 3 categories, the main difference is that the categories themselves have changed. Last time it was cute stuff, fucked up stuff and lewd stuff, this time I still have the cute category but I've switched out the other two based on this month’s reads, which I'll explain as we get to them.
So basically how this episode is gonna go is I'm gonna give my top reads this month in ascending order for each of those categories and then my top 1 reads before this month for the same.
Getting right into it the first category up is
Awww {basically v cute v innocent stuff}
#3) The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague (ongoing w 57 chapters, story & art by Miyuki Tonogaya)
This is an extremely simple but extremely cute story. The title pretty much summarizes it actually, the main character is the descendant of an ice demon, which is apparently not too strange in this world since he works a normal office job,,, and he has a crush on his cool, stoic, almost expressionless female colleague.
It's a pretty neat take on slow burns because one it's pointedly ice related, and secondly the ice guy’s emotions affect his environment, like if he gets too excited there'll be a blizzard or tiny snowmen will appear.. If you've ever had a crush on someone you know it's already hard enough to act natural or “be cool" so this guy has a pretty rough go of it.
The art is pretty nice but the characters, especially the wider cast leaves more than a bit to be desired. It actually almost kinda feels like the creator really just wanted to focus on the main two but the editor was like,, that's not how the real world works, especially not in an office... I do appreciate though that some of the wider cast includes different types of demons and it’s fun to see the different ways their emotions leak out, the different pairings, and so on.
As I said it’s an extremely simple story, almost feels like a 4 panel tbh, nothing I'd push too hard but it’s undeniably cute and makes for a super easy binge read or just something to pick up from time to time to escape the harshness of reality and indulge in the very cute but very absurd fantasy of a successful workplace romance… I think more than a few ppl have that one coworker you would if you could… but no… just no… leave it alone… leave it in fiction land my friend…
#2) Skip and Loafer (ongoing w 58 chapters, story & art by Misaki Takamatsu)
The story here follows our main heroine, a real go getter, who moved from the countryside to big city Tokyo for highschool, all so she could follow her dreams of being a politician and help out in rural areas around the country. Anyways she’s characterized as not being great at much else but studying, and in that spirit, gets lost on the way to her entrance ceremony. Here enters our main hero who’s also late but for the opposite reason, he’s super laid back, slept late and was considering just skipping but he felt sorry for this obviously lost but obviously trying girl so he decides to help her out and the story takes off from there.
Just wanna get out of the way that I love all the characters and their interactions with each other and especially within themselves. If anything, that's this manga’s strongest point. It makes the characters ooze real feelings that really feels in place for each where they are. Like not too dramatic where you wonder if they’re really highschool kids or even in school for that matter, and not too fantasy like where everything is perfect and it’s almost like characters are machines just filling a roll.
It kicks off pretty early on with engaging character interactions and the way they change and develop as the main cast gets to know each other is really endearing. I especially really really love the main heroine because she’s that innocent character type but it’s not done in that way that makes her this pure cinnamon roll that’s too good for this world, where nothing gets her down or she chooses peace and love every time. Her thing is that she’s basically socially inept and so she doesn’t really get when people are mean or even when they're being nice sometimes, but she’s all by herself in this new place so she’s trying and though she doesn’t always get it, it’s a real pleasure to see her grow.
It’s ongoing, only 58 chapters but there’s been a ton of realness and real growth in a bunch of ways for most of the cast packed in so far. Really can’t wait to see where it goes from here.
Anyways, cool art, great cast, love the interactions and would definitely highly recommend this one.
#1) Horimiya (complete w 152 chapters, story by HERO & art by Daisuke Hagiwara)
The story here is that the main hero/heroine pair each have a hidden side to them that nobody else knows. At school, the heroine is always super put together but when she’s at home she’s too busy taking care of her little brother for all that and takes on a more homely caretaker persona (the art is shoujo leaning so she and most of the main cast pretty much always looks pretty). But anyways, at school, the hero is seen as a gloomy glasses wearing loner but when he leaves school he looks like he came out of a rock magazine. Tattoos and piercings everywhere. Anyways, this and that happens, the convenient plot is convenient and they end up becoming friends who hold each other’s secrets.
As much as the story kinda feels like shoujo perfect world fantasy stuff, and as much as it came out as top 1 largely because it’s complete, I think a small part of it might have been that a tiny part of me still wants to believe in, and might even still want that kind of “perfect” love. From the innocent buildup to the accumulation of every day special normals and beyond… but in any case, I did honestly like the theme of more and more of your true self coming to the surface and being able to show that true self to someone.
Overall, besides the main pairing, the cast was kinda weak, not bad, just pretty one dimensional But that one dimension was very cute and fluffy and this being a romance manga, it worked. What I will say though is that it took a while for the wider cast to come into play and even more for them to make me care, like not until late 50s heading into 70s did i care about anyone but the main pairing. Meanwhile skip and loafer only has about 50 chapters total and I was fully invested in the entire cast well before then.
But as I said, when the full horimiya cast rolls in it’s all very cute and I liked that they even made the platonic same sex relations pretty cute like yh guys just having fun and it’s not weirdly pervy in any direction, just another form of love yk.. v cool… Again it did have me yearning a bit like wow imagine having a life with both platonic AND romantic relationships being healthy and fulfilling.
Anywho,, pretty neat art, the story kinda just goes on ig but having in mind that it was a romance and it goes on in an increasingly cute way and all, i’d recommend it.
hm:
Even the Introverted Gals Wanna Get Out There! - pretty funny, maybe more funny than cute, also it’s girl on girl, think dead dead demon’s destruction but the main heroines actually get to live life and breath air, literally just vibing out in the club room after school (ongoing w about 6 chaps)
Train Man - Net Development, the Love Story of a Local Train: based on a true story apparently, basically a dude saves some people on a train and becomes friends with one of them and stuff take off from there (complete w 27 chapters)
ftr everything in the main list has an anime but i can’t speak on their status or quality
also ftr I'd definitely rate skip and loafer higher than horimiya overall but because this is the cuteness category, + horimiya is a complete story which I tend to favour for higher places in lists and stuff
next category up is
Dense & Denser
{this is basically when one or more of the characters are just oblivious to any love flags thrown their way}
#2) How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend (complete w 42 chapters, story & art by Takeshi Moriki, original LN story by Fumiaki Maruto)
Had never heard of this one before but the title pulled me in like how and why would one raise a boring girlfriend anyways?
The story here is that on the way to school the mc has an encounter with a mystery girl and it’s love at first sight, even though he didn’t see her face…. The mc is an anime/manga otaku much like myself, and this encounter inspires him to make a dating sim game, but after he happens to actually meet the mystery girl face to face, he finds that she’s actually kind of plain,, albeit in a cute sort of way. In any case the feeling of their first mystery meeting lives on so he pushes through with his idea, intending to transform this girl into his ideal heroine. The main story, relations and problems arise around him trying to get the dev team together for this game, and of course this being romance they’re all girls.
It’s all very funny in a very meta way, with commentary on anime/manga culture in most chapters, and the so called main heroine, being outside that culture, usually playing a very good straight man. It’s also meta in how the mc goes about getting his dev team together, as i said they’re all girls so it’s almost like his life becomes a dating sim in trying to woo them into his harem… i mean game dev team…
In any case I’m not even actually sure the mc really counts as romantically dense or if he was just so committed to the bit of being a single weeb undeserving of love that he just pretended not to notice all the pretty loud romantic undertones,,, but maybe that's a type of density in itself… a younger me can def relate… being committed to the bit is a lifestyle… bed is bae… anyways it’s kind of ecchi but still surprisingly good in both the romance and meta aspects. Pretty good art, they made a decision to keep the cast compact and it worked out very nicely. It wraps up in just under 50 chapters but I will say each chapter is pretty dense and can be a bit word heavy. Would recommend.
#1) Monthly Girls’ Nozaki (ongoing w 148 chapters, story & art by Izumi Tsubaki)
This story follows our main heroine as she tries to get the attention of her crush, who is our mc. In approaching him she finds out he’s actually her favourite romance manga creator and through this and that ends up working on it with him as an assistant to try and get closer to him.
Right off the bat I think everyone in this cast is pretty dense but man is the main hero just the most dense mf in the universe. I feel sorry for the main heroine cause she knows but she’s just so down bad for him she kinda becomes dense to how down bad she is. In any case every chapter takes the form of a series of connected 4 panel stories and it’s pretty funny throughout.
The wider cast is pretty neat, nothing too crazy but as i said they’re all pretty dense in their own weird ways so the interactions are usually funny. The art is solid, cast is okay, pretty funny, would recommend for sure.
ftr both have an anime not sure of status or quality
and again ftr i’d rank boring girlfriend over monthly girls’ in general, especially as it’s complete it’s just that this is the dense & denser category and monthly girls’ nozaki is definitely dense central, like black hole event horizon density my friends…
and the last category
That’s Rough Buddy
{a direct reference to avatar when sokka told prince zuko his girlfriend turned into the moon and his response was “that’s rough buddy”, this category is different from the that’s fucked up category I used in very.2 in that these focus more on emotional turmoil and have no physical violence and so on}
#3) Kowloon Generic Romance (ongoing w 61 chapters, story & art by Jun Mayuzuki)
This is kind of eh tbh, cool art, and it’s kind of a mystery as to what’s goin on, so much so that I don’t think I can describe it without spoiling so i’ll lean on the anilist/yen press summary a bit here which is as follows:
“Welcome to Kowloon Walled City: a dystopian townscape where the people are brimming with nostalgia, and where the past, present, and future converge. Amid the hidden emotions and extraordinary daily lives of the men and women working in its confines, a tale of romance begins to unfold for real estate agent Reiko Kujirai—one that feels as familiar as Kowloon itself…”
I doubt that told you anything but I hope it sparks some intrigue, I will say it has a good number of dope one liners, and if i’m being honest the main characters smoke a lot which is an aesthetic I love for some reason so sue me…
Not much else to say tbh, nice art as I said, it’s pretty cool, okay cast, the story is pulling a bit but the bait isn’t that strong, though the aesthetics of it all has definitely caught my eye so I will be keeping up with it after this month… i wouldn’t push it as a recommendation that hard but there’s only 61 chapters rn so no real loss if you do decide to check it out
#2) How Do We Relationship? (ongoing w 115 chapters, story & art by tamifull)
The story here is that the main heroines are gay and in reality no matter how much the media and conservatives want ppl to believe that homosexuality and homosexuals are accepted and normalized in society, in fact that anything but being heterosexual and cisgender passing is accepted & normalized, that’s simply not the case in real life. I live in jamaica and man, not that I really care, but I could get shunned just for reading stuff with gays in it… In any case that’s the sort of reality the main heroines live in which was cool for its realness as they were/are hiding the fact that they're gay, but in any case plot plot plot they end up going out….
This is the “that’s rough buddy” category so I think it’s okay to spoil that it doesn’t go smoothly though I won’t go into further detail. I will mention a really cool thing the author said in an afterword where they say that a lot of romance stories tend to build towards and end at the start of the main characters getting into a relationship, but life isn’t like that. There’s life after that and that’s sort of what they wanted to illustrate. The life after a relationship…. Sounds like a spoiler but remember there’s more than just our heroines in the story. there’s a whole wider cast and they’re all pretty great. each having their own relationship troubles or lack thereof, ideas and philosophies on love and etc.
Pretty solid art, in fact it really reminds me of yokohama shopping log, so much so that i’m convinced it’s a fanfiction created just to make the characters from that series actually full on gay. Pretty solid cast, a story that gets more and more engaging as it goes on though it’s pretty solid from the start. would definitely highly recommend though it can be a bit tumultuous like damn you guys just never gonna be stable huh??
#1) Chobits (complete w 88 chapters, story & art by CLAMP an all woman manga group formed in the mid 1980s made of Nanase Ohkawa, Mokona, Tsubaki Nekoi and Satsuki lgarashi)
I’d always seen this around and always as the profile picture for some more than suspicious internet accounts… the vibe it gave off in my periphery view was just horrendous tbh but i took the dive and it was worth it, obviously, coming in at #1.
The story here is that in the future, the world is inhabited by humans who live alongside their extremely powerful computers called persocoms, that are shaped to look and act almost human. numerous stories have taken this angle so I think you can imagine the effects that would have on society, but in any case the story follows our mc who recently moved from the countryside to the city and ends up finding one in the trash that he takes in and starts to take care of. The thing is their memory is corrupted so he has to teach them everything, but soon enough the mystery of the discarded persocom comes to light and their abilities could change the world.
All that pompous stuff aside the theme of discerning the shape of love and who deserves it was pretty cool, the mc was bleh and so was most of the cast but the last few chapters and the questions they posed were enough, especially the origin story of the persocom like damn… that’s rough as fuck buddy,, def kinda weird but my condolences all the same…. Art was okay… and yh i’d recommend it..
hm:
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
Top Combo
Video Girl Ai (complete w 131 chapters, story & art by Masakazu Katsura)
This was probably my fav read this month, somewhere between this, boring girlfriend and skip & loafer but this definitely has the best combinations of the different categories I was working with this month.
Again this is something I'd seen floating around for the longest and associated with more than sus accounts but it was pretty good.
The lazy story is that the mc is a lame with no game and his crush ends up confessing to his best friend in front of him. obviously distraught he ends up renting what he thinks is a porn tape.. which I guess it technically is but it's supernatural in that the girl comes out of the TV and tries to mend the viewers’ heart.
Things get super complicated and it turns into the weirdest love polygon I've ever seen, lots of back and forth and dilly dallying but I enjoyed it. The art was great, had a great classic feel, there's more than a bit of ecchi but it's not entirely distasteful or weirdly out of context, the characters and their interactions were a bit exasperating with the back and forth, loves me loves me not stuff but that had its own entertainment value, and in any case I'd recommend it
now moving onto stuff from before this month, which I won't get into details for as I've spoken on them in previous versions which I'm encouraging you to go listen to or read the transcripts for,,
Oldies
Awww
Our Precious Conversations (top 1 oldie ver.1)
Dense & Denser
That's Rough Buddy
Hi Score Girl (top 1 ver. 2)
Boy's Abyss (top2 wtf ver. 1)
That's it for this part, got a little off cuff rambling in the rest of the ramble of you wanna listen in, thanks for checking this out as usual, hope you can find something here or elsewhere that you'll love and I hope you have a good one until next time 🍻
#just another day#mm..manga#writeup#the ice guy and his cool female colleague#skip and loafer#horimiya#how to raise a boring girlfriend#monthly girls' nozaki kun#kowloon generic romance#how do we relationship?#chobits#Spotify
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2023 WRITING REVIEW
I really don't write much but it's the second time @eeverlark tags me in a writing meme (I think) soooo alright lys I'll do it. for you 🫶🏻
1. number of stories posted to ao3: 4, and yes I'm counting the fic I updated in early January because 7 out of 8 chapters were written in 2023
2. number of words posted last year: 49k
3. fandoms i wrote for: only Merlin I'm monogamous 💛
4. pairings: Merwenthur; Merwaine; background Arwen in an Arthur & Merlin fic if that counts
5. stories with the most:
KUDOS || BOOKMARKS: Call It Anything We Want (281 | 48)
COMMENT THREADS: my merwenthur vignettes have 31 threads (excluding the chapter posted in January 2024). makes sense given every chapter is basically a self-contained ficlet
6. work i'm most proud of (and why): every fic I write is simultaneously the best and the worst I've ever written and it remains so until I post a new one.
Honestly though every fic(let) has some things I like and some I think I could've done better.
Having said that, Call It Anything We Want is the first fic I posted on ao3 after a long writing hiatus so. I'm proud of that and of the amount of time I've put into this story as a whole.
7. work i'm least proud of (and why): hmmm see previous answer.
there's a ficlet called The Hunting Trip that I think I could have done better – mainly the conversation Arthur and Merlin have about Uther – but I just wanted to get it done tbh. I do like how it starts though. And Cavall the dog :)
8. share or describe a favorite review you received: I absolutely love any time someone says they liked my characterisation. for example:
your characterization is insane i am so obsessed. its so so good. like. idk how to describe it you just write relationships meshing so well together and not in like. an unrealistically flawless way but in a warm and familiar way. im in awe.
or
I love this story, your writing, this relationship, this dynamic, your details, your characterization, your everything and I’ve been meaning to tell you for a very long time. I’m sorry for not expressing this earlier. Your continuation of the original story was incredibly, believably, wondrously fantastic.
Comments like these give me life 🥺
9. a time when writing was really, really hard: 99% of the time if I'm being honest
10. a scene or character you wrote that surprised you: I wrote a ficlet that was supposed to be magically genderbent!Merlin x Arthur smut but it ended up being fem!Merlin x Gwen instead because Arthur wasn't cooperating
11. a favorite excerpt of your writing:
“Ah, the court sorcerer himself!” Gwaine exclaims, spreading his arms wide, and some wine sloshes out of his goblet and spills on the floor. He claps one hand on Merlin's shoulder. “Congratulations, Master Merlin.”
“I told you to stop calling me that.”
Gwaine just looks at him. Head to toe, with a grin that does nothing to hide what he's thinking, and must therefore come across as incredibly lewd.
“You look good in green,” is all he says.
Merlin raises an eyebrow. “You think I look good in anything.”
Gwaine leans closer; close enough to purr in Merlin’s ear: “And even better in nothing at all.” Mainly for the pleasure of watching the tips of Merlin’s ears flush pink.
— UNWAVERING
12. how did you grow as a writer last year: well I actually wrote something which is a good starting point
13. how do you hope to grow this year: I'd love to write a multi-chapter fic with an actual plot someday. also get better at titling things
14. who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer, beta, cheerleader, etc.): I think all the lovely people that left me some feedback made me push myself a tiny bit harder to keep writing and posting. a special shout-out to @castelled-away for writing whole essays about my merwenthur ficlets, I've loved every single comment 💛
15. anything from your real life show up in your writing last year: nothing apart from my desire to kiss Colin Morgan on the mouth
16. any new wisdom you can share with other writers: sometimes done is better than perfect. just get it done and move on it's fine if it's not a masterpiece. at least that's what I often have to tell myself but also I suspect I have adhd
17. any projects you're looking to starting (or finishing) this year: I would like to finish my Sefa-centric WIP, I wrote like 8k words but I'm not sure where it's going
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tbh, at this point I'd just say be cautious of any zelda game post-totk that Nintendo spits out, wait until people start talking to see if it's actually good, etc
A boycott is unrealistic currently, but denying them your own money is still a factor.
Okay, maybe I'll sound a little controversial here but let me say this:
Technically, the mechanics that TotK introduced are actually really impressive. I don't think people understand what kind of calculations a game engine has to make to accomplish something like Ascend, where you can walk up to any ceiling and as long as there's a plausible exit at the other end it will take you there. How about Ultrahand, taking into account the physical properties of every object in the game from its weight to its shape as you cobble them together. A seamless world that requires no loading screens to move in between. Even Recall is a very impressive feature when you think of how it works.
Now see, as a developer myself I can appreciate these things, but as developers we also have to ask this question; how much technical polish does a game require before we get to the point of diminishing returns for the player? They took 6 years to create a game in the same world, no doubt most of the effort invested in these features, but I feel like it came at the expense of a lot of other things because, these features aside, the games plays exactly like BotW. I hardly had to use Ultrahand to get myself to the final boss 120+ hours in, building the most basic structures to get by. Ascend is cool, it makes traversal more fun, but if they had limited Ascend to certain areas I don't think it would have made my play experience that different. Similarly, a loading screen between sky and depths would not have killed my experience if the sky and depths were filled with more content and more story etc.
A game is not just about the gimmicks, its about the entire package. People want to argue that LoZ and Nintendo games are just about gimmicks but that is untrue to me. LoZ had founded itself on a base which is this: a series that is not afraid to explore new ideas technically while also basing itself on stories that are very dear to the fanbase. I am just concerned that LoZ is going to become Nintendo's Minecraft with the way things are going so...
Now, however, since Nintendo has already built a powerful in-house game engine I am hoping, for the next title, that they don't put sooo much time in creating new gimmicks and put more effort in other areas of the game experience. I don't see myself boycotting the series yet because, well, for all the complaining I do about TotK I don't think it's a bad enough game to necessitate that from my end. There was a lot of love and effort put into the game in certain areas, as mentioned above, and I will not dismiss that. What is souring me, however, is interviews coming out spouting nonsense that has no basis in the game itself. If you don't care enough about the narrative you're giving me, then why should I? At least own what you presented us. I don't have to like it, but *you* should like it as its creators right? Alas.
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The Details of Genderbend Naoya Au:
*yap incoming*
Just a collection of my thought process and ramblings about this collection of drawings to scratch the itch in my brain.
General ramblings:
This is not a fleshed out au. There isn't much of a storyline and I don't exactly know if I will ever make one.
The au doesn't follow the jjk canon apart from some general things like Toji leaving Megumi and Tsumiki etc.
The ‘story’ follows Naoya Zenin after an accident that should have killed him instead leaves him unscathed. That is, until he wakes up the next day with a girl's body, a kogane companion, and the ability to see strange creatures (cursed spirits) and people who should have been long dead.
Bro is basically now part of a culling game-esque event involving people who were saved from death like him, those who died long ago and were resurrected, and creatures that should have never entered the living realm. Some people such as him with bad karma for their actions, are given certain handicaps and/or punishments when they're brought back from death. Hence girl-Naoya.
But, by destroying the souls of beings with even more bad karma than you, you can gain points that will give you access to abilities (cursed techniques) or lessen your own punishment or handicap.
The Kogane function the same here as they do in canon.
Basically, this is me drawing fem Naoya with a bunch of extra steps 💀
Drawing one:
A lot of the ‘story’ of this au just happened randomly as I was doodling, Kenjaku and Takaba running Naoya over being part of that.
I wanted to draw Naoya reacting to him becoming a girl for the shits and giggle, yk, the sillies
And before I knew it I had Naoya getting run over by a truck 💀
The reason Takaba is the driver is because of that one scene in Kenjaku vs Takaba, Kenjaku is in the passenger's seat just because.
There is no reason as to what they're singing besides me wanting them to have been distracted by something goofy
You might have noticed Naoya is holding something. Idk what it is though
Its like….a wand…a club…? It's based off his first form as a cursed spirit, the one where he looks like a worm
Yes, his shirt does indeed say “why women deserve less”. It's based on that one fanart of him reading a book with the same title.
Drawing two:
The first thing I thought of when I imagined Naoya going on a ‘quest’ to become a man again was that ant carrying a bindle.
(It gives pathetic energy, which i enjoy giving my Naoya drawings)
This is actually my first time drawing Hana, I actually like drawing her
I'm so sorry to people who like Nobara and Maki, I can't draw them that well 😭😭😭
I'm thinking Hana/Angel are trying to fix whatever is going on with the souls of the deceased/players, and are thus gathering allies (though they also want to defeat a certain king of curses even in this au as well 👀)
Naoya ends up joining her, Maki, and Nobara as allies (no one is happy about this)
They will put him in his place, especially Maki.
(I wonder what would happen if he met Yuki…)
Naoya and Hana is a combination I didn't think I'd ever draw interacting tbh 💀
But for some reason that's what ended up happening
Other thoughts:
It's so cute how the kogane have different designs sometimes based on who they belong to. It reminds me of the crows in kny.
I wonder if they're meant to represent something about each player???
For example, the one we see with Naoya when we're first introduced to his curse form has a skull like face, which we later see on Naoya's second curse form.
His looks so crusty and I love it
I rlly wanted it to be his companion in this au
Honestly, I was thinking Naoya upon turning into a girl would try everything he could to make himself look more traditionally masculine
But I still wanted to draw him in a skirt, you know, because
So…uh…yeah 👍
His ass doesn't even want to be a woman, but let's be fr, he be styling his hair in the mirror or some shit thinking things like ‘if only every woman paid half as much attention to how she holds herself as me!’ Thinking he's giving everyone a good example or something 💀
Stfu Naoya
I have a third addition to this collection of drawings in the works. It'll probably be up in a few days, depending on if I have time to work on it or not. This will probably be the last piece of this au for a while.
Part 1 , Part 2
Edit: Part 3
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I see you are a perfumer! What’s a good advice to give someone with a terrible sense of smell and by that I mean I smell a perfume and all I can say is that it smells like the label. I don’t understand what it means to detect differences in cheap perfume, good perfume, also the titles— if they’re even realistic. Basically Ive never picked up a perfume I genuinely liked above all the others because it just all becomes one big blend of good smell (I hardly find bad ones)
AH I could write you a full paper on this or make a ppt, but I will try to keep things short. The truth of the matter is that perfumers actually have to train their nose to smell the different individual scents making up a fragrance so it's normal/expected that it's hard to figure out specifics without doing a looooot of intentional sniffing of your own. For my class, I spent so much time memorizing scents LOL and I'm nowhere near what I'd need to be to be considered for a proper degree in it lol.
In general, I encourage folks to figure out what scent family and or vibes that you like. (Here's a link that goes into depth) or just use this over generalized list:
Florals - Rose, Lillies, Ylang Ylang
Fruity - Pear, Orange, Apples
Fresh - Linen, Cotton, "Water"
Gourmands - Chocolate, Vanilla, Coconut, Cake
Woody - Cedar, Pine, Sandalwood
Spicy - Cinnamon, Patchouli (which is also considered woody tbh)
But once you figure out the vibes you like, I would pick a brand at a store (Replica @ Sephora is my fav pick for beginners) and look up the perfumes on Fragrantica. Then see which perfumes fit the vibes you like from above. If you can make the trip in or get your hands on a discovery kit, spritz some onto paper, let it settle and then sniff. Sniff again in 30 min. Write down your thoughts! Only spray your final picks on you- see how they smell after an hour. The base notes will be revealed by then.
A lot of picking out perfume is just trial and error. But once you start narrowing down what you like, you can generally suss out the scents you like. And it's easier to tell the differences between them. Basically the more you do it, the better you get.
Example: At the beginning of my perfume journey I wanted to find something new to year. I love my Mother's Chanel, but wanted something less "perfumey" so I went on fragrantica and looked at the notes ---Rose and Jasmine stood out so I checked out what Replica had and tried out several scents before settling on Lazy Sunday Morning. They smell completely different but it has similar notes that I love (ROSE). I had to shop around a bit to find it and probably wouldn't have picked it up on my own.
Fwiw: If you can tell me things you like (both perfume or bathroom products i.e. shampoos etc) I can give you starting points! I keep a collection of perfume at home so when my friends come over, I can give them suggestions based on vibes or scent families.
ex. I want to smell like a basic bitch candy rose -> Rose Goldea (no hate to this scent; i wear it often)
ex. I want a warm gourmand scent that's unique -> Ummagumma
HOPE THIS HELPS!!!
#tl;dr you have to train your nose to smell things#stt asks#stt ramblings#currently I wear Le Labos The Matcha#I also am forever in love with Fzotic's Lampblack
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i want jamil and leona to be friends so bad man. i mean, they both have lived their life in someone else's shadows, hearing theyll never be good enough, wishing for more out of their life but not knowing how to ever get it. leonas a prince so could prob offer jamil protection from any retaliation jamil might face for abandoning his 'place', and jamil knows how to. do things so leona wont just starve on his own. let these two shadowtrapped messes go explore the world away from judgement
(Disclaimer: Obviously a great deal of character and story stuff is locked in vignettes on cards that I don't have because I've been playing for...two weeks! So take this all with a grain of salt. I'm still getting to know them.)
I hadn't considered that angle tbh! I guess because... I don't have a ton of sympathy for Leona, because where Jamil is being consistently made to nerf himself at every turn to maintain his place in the class hierarchy, Leona is in a place of incredible privilege and ...gives up because he can't be at the tippy top? Like yeah man it sucks you can't be king I guess, but Falena's right, there's still so much he can do? Maybe people wouldn't look down on you so much if you sulked about it less? Sorry you can't beat Malleus at sports, why bring your whole class down with you? Why roll over and give up?
I'd been thinking of Jamil being more similar to Ruggie, beholden in some way to someone of enormous status and privilege, keeping their lives running smoothly in exchange for some kind of social or material security? The difference I guess is that Ruggie kind of takes it in stride even though Leona is considerably less appreciative of him than Kalim is of Jamil, because Ruggie is just happy to be here, and that Jamil is not as content in this arrangement as Ruggie is because Jamil wants the freedom to be himself and Kalim's status is a constant roadblock to that. It's not that Jamil wants to be the BEST, he just wants a chance to prove himself capable after being made to play stupid for ...his literal entire life. Because actually, everyone knows how smart and good Jamil is! No one's really saying he's not good enough. They're saying you're such a smart kid, so surely you understand this is how things work and why you can't have this.
Basically, as I see it, the only thing stopping Leona from being great is...Leona. And a title, I guess? Jamil is intentionally being stopped from being great by everyone, all the time. Ruggie doesn't want greatness, he wants dinner. Kalim just wants everyone to have a nice time!
Don't get me wrong, I'd read that fanfic tho 👀
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