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cutepastelstarsalior · 8 days

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Helluva Boss Episode 8, season 2

Ok so this show has

5 more episodes. Then the show will either

A be done

B, have a season 3.

Whatever way it goes, I hope the show wraps and gives characters satisfying endings. Though I fear that will the episodes spread out, some element or plot continuity will be lost.

What does Pride Weather mean? Is it like the the normal weather report but gay????

GOD DANG IT ANOTHER SONG.

Ok, so Stolas is thinking that his and Blitzo’s relationship will help him deal with the divorce and the negative voices in his head. A fairytale like romance is what Stolas seems to want, where his problems can be fixed with the power of love. Meanwhile Blitzo is just thinking of the relationship as only a friend’s with benefits thing. Interesting that he is also using the relationship as a way to not think about his problems.

“Would he want me if he was free? And if he’s only here as a prisoner, what kind of monster does that make me? My entire life been written in stone. He taught me that I could choose. He desverse the choice to stay or go. Though it scares me to think of what I’ll lose.”

Wow. So far, this is a lot to take it. But what really gets my interest is that Stolas repetitively saying that he wants to free them. Both Blitzo and him. But from what? Is it judgmental from others? Is it from powerful demons that could break their relationship? Or is it from Stolas’s guilt and regrets? Another interesting thing is that when Blitzo sees the date, he has to mental hype himself up to the idea of sex. At first he has a strain smile in the mirror, but once Blitzo keeps talking about sex in detail, he’s like the idea. I don’t know if Blitzo doing this hype up is supposed to be taken has a funny thing, or a way to show that Blitzo is hypersexual. But it does feel like a coping mechanism. I don’t think people normally have to hype themselves up to have sex with someone, or even feel apathetic at first. Also, Blitzo talks about what HES going to do to Stolas, and not what Stolas does for him. Does Blitzo do all the work in bed?

YOOOO THE GOVERNMENT PEOPLE AND THE CHURRUBS ARE BACK YESSSS

Wait wait wait!!!! Are the two angels going to be more and more corrupted and the goat boy is going to go back to heaven YESSSSSSSS I love that.

Oh, 👀 angles can physically be hurt, hit with blow darts, and be electrocuted. Interesting.

PRIST WITH A GUN WHAT WILL THEY DO. This feels so cursed. Omg pls pls pls give the Angels or at least one of them a gun…

EXCUSE ME??????? THE GOVERNMENT WAS LIKE YEAH WILL GIVE YOU MORE MONEY. MAKE A LITERALLY PORTAL TO HELL AND MAKE SOME KILLER CLONE PREIST.., AHHHH THE ANGELS ARE IN HELL NOW

hmmm since Hazbin Hotel finally aired, would this story still be in the same world as Hazbin? Aka angels killing demons? Or no? If the churrubs seem so gun-hoe on killing, were they apart or admire Adam’s army?

There noticeable less swearing here! Wow! Good job Viv.

Oh! So interesting thing, 1 the demons get physical sick at saying the word torture. And 2 they don’t know what sex is. Or at least, they don’t know what sex equipment is. Do Angels natural not know these thing or get sick when saying certain words? Is it just heaven born angels that are like this? The 2 rouge angels (whose names i forget) seems fine with stealing and killing, but not at torture. Will they get comfortable with it as they stay longer in hell? Will being in hell at all make then like, permanently banned from heaven?

There lots of sex shops in the Lust ring. I thought it would just be one company? That kind of neat how there many stores of the same products but with minor variations. Some neat worldbuilding. Heyyyyy it’s Frizz. He seems more happy and cheerful! Yippee. Also he seems more sex neutral or positive? Also obsidian and jewel equipment? That feels very fancy? Maybe? I feel like hell would have lots of rocks and crystal around since, you know, under the earth.

🎼🎵IM A ANGEL WITH A SHOTGUN FIGHTING TILL THE WARS WON I DONT CARE IF HEAVEN WONT TAKE MEEEE BACKKKKKK ILL THROW AWAY MY FAITH BABE JUST TO KEEP YOU SAFE DONT YOU KNOW YOUR EVEYTHING I HAVEEEEEEE🎵🎼

Loona’s voice seems different. Maybe it’s because I haven’t heard it in a while, maybe the VA has a good microphone. But it feels sharper and clearer. All the voices do. It feels like higher quality.

Ok. Now the ending.

Stolas gave Blitzo a crystal, that way Blitzo and his team can legally travel to earth and back. Stolas called off the deal, and says that even thought they don’t have that agreement anymore, he (Stolas) would like to still have Blitzo stay. Blitzo, at first thinks it’s a roleplay, or a joke. But once Stolas starts to leave, Blitzo gets angry. He even calls Stolas a porous asshole, just like Striker did. Blitzo gets angry and even starts to tear up, saying that Stolas had, treated him like other imps. That Stolas looks down on imps and doesn’t respect them. Blitzo even comments on his imp butler.

In the background, many objects are covers in tarps, and all the paintings have Stolas’s wife covered, while Olivia has her face shown. It seems like Olivia either doesn’t live with Stolas, or goes back and forth between her parents. I’m bringing this up because like before, Stolas doesn’t want the relationship to be base off a deal. He thinks highly of Blitzo, but Blitzo only thinks of the relationship as something that’s transactional. Stolas wants this relationship because it the only one in his life that seems to either bring him joy, or doesn’t let him think about his problems. While I do like that Stolas calling off the deal and giving Blitzo the crystal. I feel like the last line “I think highly of you and you think so lowkey of me” feels a bit manipulative?

Like, yeah Blitzo does feel that way. Why shouldn’t he? What has Stolas done besides letting him use the book, what has he done for Blitzo? Did Stolas even gave Blitzo comfort? Did he ever let Blitzo talk about their deal? Does Stolas actually out effort into their deal or does Blitzo do all the work? Stolas let Blitzo not have sex for a few months, but is that it? Blitzo has being Stolas bodyguard, help him track down Olivia, save Stolas multiple times. He even bought a bunch of sex equipment and seems to do all the sexual favors. So yeah. It’s damn well in Blitzo right to think lowly of Stolas.

Man I hope and pray that the series dosnt have then be endgame.

Review 4/5. The song was ok. I like that the angels and government guys are back and have more power, hate Stolas.

#long post #helluva boss #helluva boss review #my thoughts #helluva boss episode 8 #helluva boss critical #helluva boss criticism #helluva boss spoilers

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ghoulsnghosties · 7 months

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i have 11 followers but here’s my video game review so far for fashion dreamer- noting it’s been out for roughly 16 hours.

i love making my little outfits

i will continue making my little outfits for myself and others

there needed to be more to do

i think they really wanted to make it almost an mmo, they’ve really emphasized the online aspect. but as much as i LOVE seeing the lookits other people make for me based on a handful of my own style prompts, there isn’t much interaction between players. i don’t have any other friends playing and unless you really really like dress up games and clothes are consistently your favorite parts of other games, it’s not worth it. especially not for that price. so i haven’t been able to test adding people on purpose

I love the idea of clothing customizing, but that is also pretty limited. for most pieces it’s only choosing the color of the garment. sometimes you can draw your own pattern on things but not often. i wish there was more you could do with a piece, like maybe choose the material or adjust length. then the in world clothes market wouldn’t be flood with slightly different variations of the same thing, which you likely also have the pattern for and could make yourself

the solo mode- why aren’t there quests? why isn’t there a story mode alongside the multiplayer? why isn’t there something else to do? competitions, like a beauty pageant or something. side quests, photo contests, ect. it just seems like the solo mode only exist to make it technically possible to play without internet. the tutorial section is basically all you can do and the two activities get so repetitive really fast. i’m not bored yet but there isn’t enough here to get anyone hooked long term like in style savvy. since they went genderless in their approach to the game, i really wish i could wear some of the men’s clothes, but unless you make another muse who is a man you can’t. only the accessories and hair cuts are gender neutral

overall, i’m still going to play it, and if anyone else is reading this and is playing and enjoying i will absolutely play with you, but i couldn’t in good faith recommend this to anyone as it is now. if they update and add some other features it could be a different story, but for now, 50$ to put clothes on an avatar and sometimes change those clothes colors is simply not worth it, even with an incredible photo mode

#fashion dreamer #game review #for some reason #maybe i’ll write a more in depth on later #cause i’m not a game reviewer #just a girl #a nintendo girl #switch #nintendo #please i want to love this game so bad #but it feels incomplete

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arkus-rhapsode · 8 months

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Let's Talk About Fire Emblem Supports: A Discussion on the State of one of Fire Emblem's Iconic Mechanics

So I'm sure if you are someone who is keyed into the Fire Emblem community, something that has been discussed for some time is the current state of the support system. Arguably Fire Emblem's defining feature which in recent years has almost come to eclipse other facets of the gameplay.

However, with that has come some pretty noticeable backlash. Lets back it up for a second.

This is not going to be a "This is the right way to do this and if you disagree you are wrong" post. This is me as a long time fan of the franchise giving my honest opinion on how I feel about these aspects of the game and why I think they are the way they are and what I think could be improved and what I think works as is. I don't think Fire Emblem or InSys are gonna go be "diluting" themselves if they don't make these improvements, nor do I think someone who has different interests in how the support system should be implemented is wrong. I'm just a fan with an opinion.

So Fire Emblem's support system has been with us since FE4 in a primordial state, but its modern day form really started in FE6. While entries after that varied in terms of things added to it, it was around Awakening with the franchise on dire straights did making it so every character could support and marry for their prime future baby. This pairing mechanic brought on a bunch of new fans that enabled them to get a bunch of character interactions that resulted in loads of content for fans to then take into transformative properties. But the thing is that a lot of Awakening worked in context. What was assumed to be the last FE means its flaws were less evident and were built with the child mechanic in mind.

Now, Awakening's supports are seen as okay supports plagued with a bunch of redundancies due to the fact that one character interacting with everyone character can only produce so much dialogue. That and each support's length could also lead to loads of padding. The child units were also discarded after Fates basically proved that the mechanic without some proper context can feel more intrusive. But that still leaves us with games with many many characters and a lot of interactions.

The criticism of modern FE Supports can vary but the general points are

Too many characters

Too much repetition in interactions

Length of each support

Separated from the events of the narrative

The supports themselves are just poorly written

This is also not ignoring the ways this has been shaken up like Shadows of Valentia's use of memory fragments, the base conversations of the Tellius games, the monastery scene of Three Houses etc. So any discussion of how these support systems could be improved often calls back to other variations of the support system. And that's at least how we will be trying to examine FE's support system, using its other systems and variants for reference and comparison.

So firstly, I think the stance people take on this will actually be different depending on what aspect of the game you value most. If you are a gameplay fiend your focus will be more on integrating supports into the gameplay the way a Persona game might. If you are a more narrative fan of Fire Emblem you would more take the stance that the supports are relevant and reactive to the plot. And if you're a character fan, you likely want the content of the supports to be plentiful but endearing to the characters. So I want to at least establish that where you fall on how supports are implemented will be of personal preference.

As this is my post, my personal stance is Fire Emblem is a narrative game with supports acting as ways to elevate the characters. As such, that is why I feel confident in saying that I am personally not a fan of the idea of making every FE character support relevant to the narrative. The narrative is important to me, but critical world building and character motives shouldn't just be buried in the supports or battle conversations. I shouldn't need to play with certain character combinations to find out vital information for the plot you are writing. In my personal opinion, the best remedy for this was the creation of the base convos. These were interactions the played out when certain conditions were met at certain points in the story.

This had allowed for a lot of side characters to feel as they had some relevance even if they weren't plot relevant. To contribute to how far along this journey has been and how a map scenario may relate to them. A small version of this was done in Garreg Mach Monastery where each chapter would allow for Byleth to walk around the hub world and speak with characters who would provide their thoughts on the previous chapter or what might be coming in the next chapter. These weren't as long as base convos, much shorter. But it still gave the idea of everyone contributing a new insight. That said, as much as I think base convos are good in games like FE9, they should not be a replacement for the current support system but rather an enhancement. These I would consider as narrative moments that often hinge on events that happened in the narrative. With character commenting and interacting off of it. But I feel that if we were to remove the support system and only have base convos we would be distancing a lot of the casual fans of FE who want to see characters interact, but not always as serious. And because FE is often a war story franchise, the tone of base convos are often serious in subject matter.

With Engage and the implementation of the somniel and even walking around defeated battlefields, I actually really would have liked base convos to be implemented this way. Perhaps after a battle you may be able to walk around a camp and see an indicator of who you can talk to about an event that just happened that would trigger a more fleshed out cutscene. I say camp, because while I appreciate the monastery, but one of the issues I have is that it is a stationary location and makes FE not so much a journey but rather just able to fast travel to certain conflicts. Making the world feel smaller and repetitive.

Most likely than not, you will not unlock every support in game on your first try. This to me adds replayability and an incentive to grind with characters you may not regularly use. However, in the case of base convos, unlocking them often hinges on them just being alive at the time. So if you were someone like me who impulsively starts over even on casual mode to not lose a character, when you see all base convos, you have seen them all. You can only walk around the Monastery and ask Sylvain what he thinks about fighting Miklan only so many playthroughs before you just don't bother. The replayability will then come from difficulty spikes and not character or story incentives. So I do believe base convos should return but as an enhancement not a replacement.

(Some may suggest that one could implement a support system lock like FE3H did with its time skips, but that suffered from an issue of not accounting for everything interaction when the time skip happened. So it actually feels very bizarre to watch Ashe and Petra have a lunch time excursion in Faerghus when the country is apparently under occupation. So I think weaving supports with narrative dependency for some supports but not others will actually be more confusing.)

In fact I daresay, supports that are disconnected could actually add levity. Mia and Ilyana's support is almost completely comedic, and it feels more endearing than watch the two of them brood over Daein and Crimea.

Speaking of repetition, lets talk about support redundancy. This is part of another issue in FE's supports which we will get into, but let me at least try to establish what people mean by redundant. I find saying FE characters are "too anime" rather lazy and dismissive. At their core a lot of side FE characters are stock characters with some limited traits. So when you hear Sully talking about working out, or Rosado's obsession with cute things, or Raphael loving food, a lot of the supports they have can come back to or revolve around these topics. And when you have games with the other issue of many many characters hearing them have these convos around these topics again and again can be very boring.

Some could say that this is an easy fix by simply reducing the number of characters. Focus more on say the size of a persona cast. Well the difference is that FE is a tactical RPG with permadeath while Persona is an RPG with a focus on time management. The smaller sized cast benefits the player in ways that help them interact with every character, but not having to worry about one becoming unplayable after you spend a lot of time on one. FE however as a tactical RPG where the mass amount of characters is so you have options to solve strategic map scenarios. Reducing the number of characters to only plot relevant ones would be very difficult. Hypotethically, if we reduced Engage to the characters who have to be around for the plot that only leaves you with Alear, Vander, Clanne, Framme, Mauvier, Veyle, Alfred, Ivy, Diamant, and Timerra. Not exactly a plethora of options for making interesting maps.

Now InSys seems to have begun implementing changes to this already. No longer are we going full Awakening or Fates with supports. Supports are much more limited in scope but not quite as anemic a line up as Shadows of Valentia did with who could support who. 3H and Engage have honestly made far more strides in lowering the number of supports and honing in on who may be relevant for a character to interact with and who outside of that circle could they interact with. Three Houses often relies on the house members each being to support each other with maybe one or two students from other houses or the monastery staff. Engage seems largely to focus on characters from countries having the same interactions with a few from others. This is a good thing, honestly if we were to get a remake of Radiant Dawn, I would love for something similar to be implemented between the Ike, Elincia, and Micaiah casts with some crossover supports when you get to the back half of that game.

So if this is already something InSys is improving, why is it something people are still critical of? Well I think what some may miss is that even if we compact a cast to more manageable interactions, that still leaves the interactions themselves.

Remember how I said Fire Emblem characters are stock characters with some limited traits? Well that is often done with identifiability. When you meet L'Arachel as a holy women but she has a snotty attitude or Sylvain the noble who hits on every woman, its done so you can recognize this character. But when you get into their supports, you often see that there might be reasons for why they act this way or it makes them more fleshed out and rounded characters than how they may seem at face value. This is where I think some Fates fans will often argue that Nohr's cast is very compelling in their supports even if the game's narrative had made many come off as one note. But you can see the flippside with Engage where its supports are more manageable, people didn't think supports were elevating the characters in ways that you had known them. That's not to say all of them, Yunaka is a stand outing how her supports both inform her as a non plot relevant character but also endear her to the audience. This to me is a sign that supports will ultimately be cases of writing. And there can just be poor writing and utilization of characters. This can also hinge on context as well as 3H has recruitment of characters far different from any FE game and just hands you your house with the expectation your interactions with them will make you learn more about them rather than just playing and recruiting on a quest like some may want.

I may have been a bit snide to Shadows of Valentia as even by the account of wanting less quantity of supports, I still found it almost too small. But even then some of the supports are the best in the franchise. Particularly Python and Clive's. But I don't think this was good because SoV had less character supports, I think it was good because the writers had looked at this pairing of characters and what each one was about and what depths could the reveal about each character. I would very much like to see that for a majority of supports.

Last point is length, and honestly we've seen this improved with games like 3H. Some supports can just be short. In fact some people can have only two support chains. Honestly, just doing more of that would've probably led to less issues overall and hope for that to cut down on padding.

So with all this in mind, what is my final take away. Well I ultimately think it comes back to what I usually want out of a Fire Emblem game. The narrative should be all there in the campaign with characters arcs for plot relevant characters, but the supports should be used as a way to enhance these units. Adding dimensions to characters who ultimately don't factor into the plot as a whole. I think 3H did make a lot of these improvements particularly because it was made with the social aspect in mind with that game practically carried by all of its characters and their depths. But I did feel as the narrative of 3H had suffered and wasn't all that tight. Post Engage, I think we are seeing a system I'd like to maintain, but I think what was lost was some of the added depths to cast members that supports can provide as well. Yes, Engage was made with a lot of celebratory fun in mind so it wasn't all that serious, but it would be nice to get more Yunakas and Pandreos in that case than say Ambers. Another aspect is the pairing, and I really hope that pairing characters without the need for child units returns as well.

I am all for the return of base convos like FE9, but I don't think it should be a replacement. Again it is another form of enhancement not replacement for supports. I think completely junking supports in favor of the base convos would be a bad idea especially with newer fans of the franchise. Overall, FE supports I feel are where they should be, but there are plenty of minor tweaks that could be implemented, if just more utilization of the characters beyond their face value.

#fire emblem #fire emblem supports #fire emblem fates #fire emblem awakening #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem engage #fe3h #fe awakening #fe engage #analysis

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kinokoshoujoart · 9 months

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SOS:AWL— various NPC gossip / trivia from the child’s gossip dialogue file

starting with the bachelorettes

i included all variations of a given line, so it might get repetitive…

also including the biographies you got from linking AWL and FoMT since they complement these well. they should be complete but i have no way to verify if i did it correctly, there’s also some glaring typos and i can’t check the jp. there SHOULD be the same character bios for linking AnWL and MFoMT, once i’m moved i’ll try and get those if i can to see if they were translated differently

there’s three types of lines in this file: secret, personal, and comment.

“secret” is the most lore-ish, and only kids with naughty/normal personalities will tattle the town’s “secrets” to you (and say different things)

not sure what personal is since 2/3 of each npc “personal” lines are replaced with “What?”. but it seems to be how they interact with your kid

“comment” is stuff said by normal/shy kids only, mostly their opinion of said npc…

not all of it will be new info but maybe the thoroughness will help if you weren’t sure what your kid’s personality is.

"secret"

I heard someone wondering if Ms. Lumina and Ms. Romana are really related at all. (ch. 3 naughty son)

I heard someone say they think Ms. Lumina and Ms. Romana actually aren't related at all! (ch. 3 naughty daughter)

Ms. Lumina said there are days when she loves piano and days when she hates it. What's up with that? (ch. 3 normal son)

Ms. Lumina said she loves playing piano some days, and then other days she hates it. That doesn't make sense.(ch. 3 normal daughter)

Apparently, Ms. Lumina is a really talented singer. (ch. 4 naughty/normal son)

I guess Ms. Lumina is good at singing, too. (ch. 4 naughty/normal daughter)

All the people Lumina has fallen in love with have been older than her, apparently. (ch. 5/6 naughty/normal son)

All the people Lumina has fallen in love with have been older than her. (ch. 5/6 naughty/normal daughter)

"personal" (yes these are marked Lumina)

Mr. Sebastian does aaall the chores at Ms. Lumina's place. (ch. 3 son)

Mr. Sebastian does aaall the chores at Ms. Lumina's place. Does he like chores? (ch. 3 daughter)

"comment"

I wonder what Ms. Lumina would do if she got married? Would she move away? (ch. 3 normal son)

I wonder what Ms. Lumina would do if she got married. Would she...maybe move away? (ch. 3 normal daughter)

Ms. Lumina's like the older sister I never had. (ch. 3 shy son)

Ms. Lumina's like a big sister to me. (ch. 3 shy daughter)

I think Lumina would've become even better at piano if she'd had a proper teacher. (ch. 5/6 normal son)

Lumina's such a talented pianist. If only she could find someone to teach her. Then she'd get even better. (ch. 5/6 normal daughter)

“secret”

Someone told me that Ms. Nami is actually SUPER rich! (ch. 3 naughty son)

Know what someone told me? Ms. Nami is actually really rich! (ch. 3 naughty daughter)

I heard that Ms. Nami actually comes from a really rich family. (ch. 3 normal son)

Know what I heard? Ms. Nami actually comes from a really rich family. (ch. 3 normal daughter)

Ms. Nami has a difficult time talking to women. (ch. 4 naughty/normal son)

It doesn't look like Ms. Nami can talk to other women very well. (ch. 4 naughty/normal daughter)

What? (ch. 5/6 naughty/normal son/daughter)

"personal"

I'd never be able to hear such cool stories if Ms. Nami hadn't come back. (ch. 3 son)

I'd miss out on all sorts of cool stories if Ms. Nami hadn't come back. (ch. 3 daughter)

"comment"

Ms. Nami's the coolest! I wish I had an older sister like her. (ch 3. normal son)

Ms. Nami's the coolest! If I had a big sister, I'd want her to be like her. (ch. 3 normal daughter)

Ms. Nami's kinda quiet, but that's what's cool about her. (ch. 3 shy son)

Ms. Nami's kinda cold, but that's what's cool about her. (ch. 3 shy daughter)

“secret”

Ms. Molly's eyebrows are actually tattoos, which makes things WAY easier! Um... Actually, I dunno what it makes easier. (ch. 3 naughty son)

Ms. Molly's eyebrows are actually tattoos, which makes things lots easier. Um, actually I dunno what it makes easier. (ch. 3 naughty daughter)

I heard Ms. Molly's always trying to look more beautiful. How come? I think she's really pretty already. (ch. 3 normal son)

Ms. Molly's always trying to look more beautiful. How come? I think she's plenty pretty. (ch. 3 normal daughter)

Ms. Molly made a lot of money when she worked in an office. (ch. 4 naughty/normal son/daughter)

What? (ch. 5/6 naughty/normal son/daughter)

"personal"

Mr. Gavin's lucky to live with someone who's so much fun. (ch. 3 son)

Mr. Gavin gets to live with someone who's so much fun. Lucky! (ch. 3 daughter)

"comment"

Ms. Molly is really pretty! (ch. 3 normal son/daughter)

Ms. Molly always smells nice. (ch. 3 shy son/daughter)

“secret”

Ms. Vesta said that Ms. Cecilia grew up with really strict parents. (ch. 3 naughty son)

Ms. Vesta said that Ms. Cecilia's parents were suuuper strict when she grew up. (ch. 3 naughty daughter)

When Ms. Vesta and Mr. Matthew fight, Ms. Cecilia plays, um, what's the word... Oh, inter-meedy-airy. (ch. 3 normal daughter)

When Ms. Vesta and Mr. Matthew fight, Ms. Cecilia plays, um, "inter-meedy-airy." (ch. 3 normal son)

Ms. Cecilia is so...innocent. Honestly, I feel kinda embarrassed for her sometimes. (ch. 4 naughty/normal son)

Ms. Cecilia is so...sweet. It's like she's as innocent as a baby. Her aura makes me feel kinda embarrassed for her sometimes. (ch. 4 naughty daughter)

Ms. Cecilia is as innocent as a little girl...for better or for worse. Honestly, I get secondhand embarrassment just thinking about it...(ch. 4 normal daughter)

What? (ch. 5/6 naughty/normal son/daughter)

"personal"

Ms. Cecilia says she wishes she had a cute little brother like me. (ch. 3 son)

Ms. Cecilia says she wishes she had a cute sibling like me. (ch. 3 daughter)

"comment"

Ms. Cecilia is so gentle. (ch. 3 normal son)

Ms. Cecilia is so nice. (ch. 3 shy son/daughter)

#sos awl spoilers #sos awl #bokumono #hm awl #harvest moon a wonderful life #story of seasons #story of seasons a wonderful life #harvest moon #sos: awl #sos: a wonderful life #hmawl #long post #sos awl loreposting

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stingrayloveblog · 4 months

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Whee side order

My thoughts on it! THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!! Youve been warned.

So, here are my honest thoughts. Let me just start by warning further that this is mostly negative.

Took me about two hours and one attempt to beat all 30 floors. Was pretty fun. I used splattershot though because i suck at dualies.

But... it felt very quick. Felt like there was a whole lotta nothing plotwise, too. It was fun, but the plot is pretty weak. Its just another rogue-ai-tries-to-assimilate-everyone plot. Which has already been done. For some reason they keep trying to do octo expansion but again and they keep failing to do that.

Taking everything into consideration, acht really had no reason to be there. You could remove acht entirely and have the same results. And im not just saying that because i dont like dedf1sh. They dont add anything to anything.

I havent unlocked all marinas dev notes but so far theres been her motive of saving the sanitized octarians which......... i have my own personal issues with that. They seem to not be able to decide how they want sanitization to work.

Doing the pallets, i assumed they would give you some memory thing related to the associated character, but you just get a stupid little comment from the post-final boss that doesnt really add anything to the plot or the characters. Also murch is on luna blaster for some reason. I was speculating a lot on who luna blaster and octobrush could be assigned to, but seems like theyre just doing anyone. Murch is very irrelevant to everything as a whole so its kinda just like whatever.

That being said, i feel extremely bad for agent 4 fans. Those humanoid red eyed things with one of them looking like 4 and then them not doing anything with that at all was a huge fake out.

From what i saw, a lot of people were theorizing and expecting things based on all the evidence we got that we never did end up getting because they went an entirely different route. No agent 4 being possessed or whatever (unless thats still true and just unlocked much later, which im hoping because it would make everything a lot more interesting), no implied body swapping, no copybots.

And most of all, nothing from the first trailer we got. With all the concept art. I know it was just CONCEPT art for a reason, but surely you cant just show off all these things and then have the final result be absolutely nothing like it? Then again, splatoon 3 has had more than enough false advertising already, so i guess it was wrong to expect things to be as shown. I just really really liked the giant hostile architecture black spikes picture. And theres none of that at all.

Basically, everything that was expected was significantly cooler than what we got, and to be completely honest, i dont think it was worth splatoon 3 being in really bad shape for such a long time. I dont think it really justified the amount of dumb things that happened over the past few seasons.

I do still think its fun, and i absolutely am going to try to collect everything, but it was significantly less interesting overall than i anticipated.

I do think the final boss attacks syncing with the rhythm was cool. But other than that the level design is extremely repetitive and there really is no variation. Im only enjoying it now because ive used weapons that i like/dont mind using, but once i have to start using weapons im bad at i just know itll be insufferable.

Overall, i am unfortunately disappointed but i still have hope that maybe there is something more, because surely that couldnt have been it.

Also just because it doesnt go along with any of my oc stories at all and i am absolutely not changing anything on my end because frankly im sick of doing that

#and if you dont agree with me thats perfectly fine and i dont want to hear it #splatoon 3 #weaponblog #side order

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darkfictionjude · 22 days

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I was thinking about the time jump. And the thing is, I would prefer a shorter one personally, a year or two at most, since that feels more possible if the MC and the RO's are supposed to get together at one point.

Especially because, at least for me, it would feel a bit like a repetition of the beginning of season 1. Perhaps more of an echo rather than a proper repetition. Mostly for the Nia romance/friendship route, since it would mean there were two big gaps where they didn't see each other or didn't have a closer connection. And at one point either has to question if there's a point after all of it. Sure, it's delightfully angsty, but unless you come with very good reasons for both MC and Nia to want to reconnect with the other apart of remaining fond feelings... I just feel it would be very hard for a relationship to get going. They would need to heal a lot, and Nia's stoic practicality also would probably help to make this more difficult.

As for Imre and Lorcan, I think there is less of an issue for them. Or, rather, is a very different issue. After all, Imre didn't have any major connection with MC before the game takes place. They were mere acquaintances. So even if a crush develops now, or even if both fall in love, they haven't actually spend much time together, and it's natural they would move on. And rekindling a relationship would be, because of this, perhaps easier than for Nia and Lorcan. Except because trust is a very important problem any relationship with Imre has to confront, and how can there be any trust is years have passed and they are strangers once again? It basically means a reset, except both now may have been once in love with the other.

Following that, I worry for Lorcan in this scenario. I think a romanced Lorcan would take the longer time gap very badly. After all, already being able to honestly recognize he feels something romantic for MC is going to be hard, being confronted with a distance in time of such length as half a decade is... Well, discouraging. And he already sees himself as unlovable, so if all that time passes... Plus all the buts and many reasons there can be found to oppose a romantic relationship with MC... I don't know. I just see Lorcan being in a dark place, and MC is not precisely the best at consoling anyone.

Finally there's MC. In a way, because the story involves the MC building and recognizing their own personhood, a time jump is necessary narratively. I agree with you on that. But I also think a jump that is too long can easily mean a complete reset on MC's affections. What point is there in pining for Imre, for example (I'm romancing him), if MC and him have not seen each other for years? Are the feelings just memories, or are they just fondness and lust at this point?

Like, I do understand the importance of a time jump. It gives space for both personal growth and the festering of interesting conflicts between the characters. But half a decade of distance? Is it really necessary? What does it add? Because other than angst, and perhaps giving the characters reasons to move on, I don't see much that cannot be had as well with just one year. Not to say, those specific years in their lives are years that involve a lot of variation, to the point that it open the question if they are even the same people that once fell in love? Perhaps they are, perhaps not.

And as for personal reasons and tastes... I feel sad when characters lose so much of their young years separated when they could be together. It also breaks most of my college romance fantasies, but of course that's what fantasizing and fanfiction is for.

On the other hand, I do like the idea of pining for someone for years hopelessly only to be given a chance to go for it. It is a romance trope after all. It's angsty. It's a chance to explore the characters in a very distressing and emotionally demanding scenario. But it's also a bit of an annoying slow burn, even if a lot of people enjoy slow burns.

If it's just one year, and perhaps two, you still get the benefits of a time gap. But also it doesn't go to the extremes. Like, I see Nia moving on in five years. Imre may just have crushes and flings and nothing serious (and I do think he is the most likely to have less issues getting together with MC even if the gap is large, although I may be wrong). Lorcan wouldn't move on, but five years feels excessively harsh on him.

Of course, this is just my opinion. You can decide to make the jump to be six months to a two decades, and it's your prerogative. It's your IF, your characters and your artistic vision.

And I'm, as well as other nonnies, speaking from the dark. We don't know, as you do, what is going to happen at the end of season 1. And how much it may, or may not, warrant a time jump and how long this jump should be. At the same time, my vision of the characters may easily be erroneous, thus, listening to my council would also be a mistake. In summary, you do you, I guess.

Now, if you are unsure about the length of the time jump, maybe you can do a poll. Either here in Tumblr and/or in Patreon (although I have no access to the latter, I'm poor). Not that you have to do it, as I said, this is your IF, and your rules. But I guess is better to know what your audience thinks than not. Since not everyone is going to send an ask.

(By the way, I'm the etymology nonnie, but perhaps you already suspected that, sorry for the essay. It could be longer, but I wrote it on a whim rather than sitting down and reflecting before writing it.)

Nonnie this is on a whim? 😭 it’s very well thought out for a whim

The thing is you’re looking at it from the point of “these characters won’t have any reason to reconnect and are easily fickle” there actually is a reason for them to reconnect narratively, it’s a very powerful reason, and not just for romance. Also the characters are going through their own arcs, right now as you know them won’t be as they always will be. I’m not talking a drastic change but a natural progression. And that includes love. Honestly it probably won’t be 5 years but it could be 2-3 because 1 year is just far too soon for what happens at the end of the season especially since season 2 takes place somewhere else

I do always love how hard you think about my characters and your opinions etymology nonnie thank you for the essay 😌

#time jump #season 2 #we wretched creatures

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daisychainsandbowties · 2 months

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4, 7, 21, 22, 33, and 40 from the writing asks? 🥰

4. do you have any OCs? Do you have a story for them?

i have a lot of OCs actually because i have three novels i’m bouncing between. one is around 110k (almost done) and another is just 40k (almost at the second act) and then the third is like 10k and i’m still feeling out my guys in that one. but all my OCs have pretty solid backstories and i do actually plot out my novels because it’s a different arena than writing fic (no existing characterisation to fall back on, world i have to make myself, expectations about structure are largely different).

the novel i’m working on now is about a space racing polycule that’s like enemies-to-lovers in one direction, friends-to-lovers in another and jealous-to-oh i can be in love with you too l, asshole. in another direction. the OCs in that are pretty fleshed out at this point. one is this ship mechanic who talks as though she only vagely understands how to and also could get a phd in aeronautics if she wanted but she’s like. sorry i’m too busy being in love with my best friend 🥰🫶

i want to talk about my boy levitas again but we’d be here forever

7. your favourite ao3 tag?

i looked through my bookmarks and apparently it’s some variation on characters recovering from Bad Things that Happened. makes sense for me i suppose. i am very drawn to how we can come back from dark places. this is why i write about the mechanics of light so often i think. but yes. it’s cathartic to me in a very special way to see characters survive and get fat and go grey and fall in love again despite despite despite

21. Can you accurately predict how long your fics are going to be? If you can, what is your secret?

only with oneshots. so, for oranges are the only fruit and orbital mechanics and this red rock and pokemon au i knew almost exactly how long they would be. maybe it’s a function of short stories and the technical landscape of them. i’m not certain. i tend to simply feel a sense of inevitability about those ones.

for longer fics absolutely not. demonstrably not as we all probably know i tend to let those get out of my hands. i don’t treat them like novels so they become almost serialised narratives to me. they’re done when they say so and it’s never clear when that will be.

22. What is it about watching the same two idiots fall in love over and over?

oh, um, i think what is appealing to me about this is the certainty of it. i like knowing that they will fall in love, i like knowing that things will be okay. also it’s loving the characters individually and being interested in how and why they fall for each other. how much can i change them until they don’t fall in love anymore? how far can i push them before they are not the same character?

i read fanfiction when i’m unsteady. when i can’t sleep or when i’m sad or when i’m hopeless lonely sore tired trying to do something other than cry. and it’s like. here are dozens of stories to the tune of “well, of course they fall in love. of course they will be happy.” it’s a way to come close to being loved yourself. i have a handful of fics that literally saved my life and i like to examine why. what did i need from them? was it the comfort of something melodiously repetitive? was it hope, the actualising touch of the other who is not other because they love you? i don’t really know why it is so life-reacuing - these stories about love over and over, again and again, but i’m very glad they exist. 💕

33. Give your writing a compliment

😭bdsm torture scene where you force me to internalise a compliment 🥺🥰🫠💕

i suppose i like how i can put a theme inside of a certain um… distance of prose and sort of weave a theme around that and come back to it again and again. like an epiphany in language. i like that. it’s very difficult.

luckily 😌 Amber would NEVER ask me to write a 9-word fic because she knows i would find that terrible. nigh impossible. a biteable offense. unless 🧐😳 that was your plan all along?

#ask meme #ty Amber ily 🥹💕❤️💕

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yanderes-galore · 9 months

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Sorry to bother, but i wanted to share some opinions about Self-aware AUs. I think it's a fascinating topic in horror stories due to traumas it may cause to the character who suddenly realizes their world is false, just like their friends, family, even enemies. It's such a drastic realization, bringing the character to an existential crisis, slowly driving them insane.

Every character in any movie, cartoon and game has a set of recorded voicelines they say exactly when they have and repeat once they need to say it again. Knowing that, i think about three scenarios that could happen in an self-aware case:

The one affected is the only one who can think by themselves, and not by a code or script. But this leaves them alone, since whenever they will talk with other people, the only answers are the same, repetitive phrases and movements, no matter what the question was.

(This is a variation of 1) Character A is self-aware and goes to B to explain everything. But, instead of saying what they were programed to say, B stops, frowns and says a simple "What?". Those actions look insignificant, but they are already the start of B's self-awareness. They already broke the code by saying something that shouldn't be there, and soon, they will understand what A means. So one self-aware character consequently would make everyone else also self-aware of their situation.

(This one is the most grotesque and violent. Let's use Sonic for this, since this is an AU, there's no problem changing his personality, right? This could be a continuation of 1) A self-aware character like sonic would become insane eventually. Being forced to live in that limited, small world, hearing the same things every day. Does time even pass? He can't tell when he hears Tails asking his help to gather the Chaos Emeralds by the hundredth time. Why should he care about "saving the world" anymore if the cycle will repeat exactly as it happened before? Nothing he does really matters. This fills the hedgehog with anger, which brings a psychotic desire for anything exciting. When he looks at Tails, the only idea on his mind was killing the fox (like Sonic could even say "kill". His best friend is not real, he was a bunch of codes in a game and he'd come back later, of course. There would be no consequences). The next thing Sonic knows, is that he's brutally punching Tails into a pulp, letting out all his frustrations on his virtual friend, staining his white gloves with Tail's blood. At least now he has something different to do with his "friends".

(Well, those were my ideas. I think i've put more tought on the third one than i expected. Sorry if it looked weird and creepy, or that i hate Tails. I don't, this was just a example of what could happen in a self-aware story, i don't wish to make anyone uncomfortable)

Self-Aware stories are not my favorite to write, but they are fun to read.

I do like your ideas even if they weren't entirely Yandere ^^

That does seem really accurate to how things would go.

#panther ideas for later

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m1lkt00th · 2 months

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Im asking you to go feral and explain swap x outer [3

Do what you must ,,úчù,,

going to self indulgent here and explain why i think a specific song i placed into their playlist makes me think of them. it’s pretty long (like ten minutes) but the mental imagery always captivates me

it’s the thought of swap being alone. someone different in the face of the multiverse. bc he’s the ‘old one out’ in a (very literal) sense. there are so many variations of ‘swap’ out there. even a bastardized version that was caused by a popular series of misconceptions.

the repetition of “hey space cadet” followed by some form of declaration of loneliness. im going to be breaking down the entire song here! or at least the lyrics that are significant to me lol

It is 2014 and I have no idea what is going on in my life

Heavily vibes based. leaning into swap’s (or outer’s) confusion regarding the multiverse. kind of plays into how old their aus are respectively

Hello hello hello hello -> I got a little drunk before I came here

outer or swap being introduced to the multiverse in some way. being hopeful or wary. their perception of the multiverse being VERY narrow. the echoing "hello"s could signify the other outcodes greeting them or other past residents of aus. also plays into sans' "knowing more than he lets on" trait where they probably had some idea of alternate universes existing before being directly introduced to them

frozen margaritas in Austin -> the birthplace and deathplace of Elvis

really just vibes. imagining them talking to out-codes (namely dream or error) and becoming more warmed up to the multiverse. visiting the omega timeline too

(and I’m so far away from home) -> (route seven)

the slow pace of it up to here makes me think of swap or outer or both missing their homes. possibly missing their narrow view of the universe. missing when the world (still endlessly big) was a little smaller

Hey, space cadet. you can’t hang out with your friends, even when you are with them

to me is about swap joining/formulating the star sanses with their first multiverse friends. but the connection they NEED isn’t there. the connections theyre craving arent there. dream themself is still getting used to forming those deep connections or refuses to due to the influence of their aura and the potential codependency that may develop due to it. and ink is not looking to view these guys as more than "characters" (for his mental safety tbh)

Hey, space cadet. you’re gonna need a lot of love but not the kind you’re thinking of

swap wants that connection though, he wants friends that he can go to and hang out with. he's desperate for that validation and acceptance, as someone that's so different. he wasn't taken seriously (enough to become part of the guard) in his universe so why did he expect differently here

and the times when i feel fine -> had to come and write this song

swap possibly sorting through their feelings. he begins seeking out other friends, or places he can relax outside of his home universe. at this point he knows of error and their interests. or outertale was mentioned at some point. either way, he seeks comfort in that universe

hey, space cadet. didn’t think it’d be this far but that’s the price for being a star

this is swap directly communicating his feelings to outer after forming that bond. outer themself rarely left their home universe, opting to welcome monsters that visit the place. outertale is like a tourist stop in that way or at least a place frequently visited by others. it took some time for outer to move past cagey and distrustful to being more open (which isnt by much)

i met you through the television screen. i fell in love with the guy smiling at the audience. and now this love is praecox feeling. and now this love is aspect dawning

swap thinking about ink. possibly learning about ink’s ‘mentality’ and how he only sees them all as ‘characters’. swap’s idolization of dream too! believing that they had the full picture for everything.

swap saw these two as gods almost. beings higher than him. their treatment of their relationship (not deepening their bond past 'coworkers') didnt help to dissuade swap's initial idolization, causing it to snowball into something more severe and possibly toxic.

i can also see this as swap developing a crush on dream but thats pretty 'straight-from-the-lyrics' to me. and i personally view them as best friends

hello hello hello hello -> we should fit like a glove and a hand

swap witnessing the star sanses fall apart possibly! being so upset bc their best friends’ conflicting moralities drove them apart thus, dissolving the group

after this, swap has nowhere to go. he doesnt have a 'job' anymore and his interest in becoming part of the guard in his home universe is so small in comparison to what he was before. he retreats to outertale or the omega timeline to think

Hey, space cadet. The things you see inside your head. You'd better make other plans instead

It's alright to want to dream. It doesn't mean reality is mean, oh

outer or papyrus or dream or swap himself telling swap to let go of his past expectations but to experience the multiverse for what it is

Hey, space cadet. it’s time to show them what you can. what can you do, man, what can you do?

they could be talking to either. outer’s space based powers and magic. swap’s general potential and how theyre underestimated GREATLY

Love isn't love enough -> Love isn't love even at all -> At all, at all, at all

No real explanation abt why this fits besides vibes again. swap struggling with abandoning this mentality and outer bearing witness to it (also dropping my headcanons: swap is ace and outer is aro)

(Space cadet, you are now crashing in space. You've waited for this, now, you're off)

(Kind of a side tangent) But blueberror to me. Swap being Error-d leads to swap letting go of his expectations and past attachments. either protecting aus or destroying them with this new turning point

Hey, space cadet…

this final ‘echo’ at the end just SINGS starryknights to me. the longing, the grief, the agony and the comfort they can seek in each other. the audio for it says so much more

this felt like a mostly swap to outer dump though. outer mostly stayed within their universe and didnt develop that many multiverse affecting friends (like dream or ink or error) outer mainly hangs out with sans, fell, swap, horror, dance and epic at the very least.

error is around too but they dont exactly talk too much. silent acknowledgment and mutual "youre alright" relationship. i can definitely see outer drawing someone like nightmare to them bc of the quiet atmosphere and lack of an ulterior motive

also outer being friends with another character that mostly sticks to their home universe: ccino :3

#tooth asks #swap sans #outer sans #swap!sans #outer!sans #starryknights #underswap sans #outertale sans #utmv #sorry about the inconsistent casing ah

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dangerously-human · 4 months

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3, 26, 50 for the writer ask game :)

Thank you for your patience, I know I took forever to answer all of these but this one took even longer because I decided to indulge myself with ALL the details and that was a time-consuming genuine delight. 😅

3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics?

I am a big fan of playing with metaphor and challenging myself with defined structure. Years ago, I wrote a Continuum fic (Still Here) with POV from every character in the story, with the swaps happening in a sort of chain based on who the characters interacted with - Dillon talks to Carlos, then we're in Carlos's POV until he thinks about Garza, then we're with Garza until she picks a fight with Emily, and so on - all looking at the same theme of how Kiera returning to her time left a hole that deeply affects everyone she left behind. Love giving myself a theme to work around, like chapters in developing relationship fic each based on a color of the rainbow. As is probably quite apparent, I enjoy writing "five times/things" fics and drabbles, and combining the two. Sometimes I go a step further and do the variations on a theme thing for five interconnected drabbles, like the Sparky five senses series. I like giving myself a challenge with fanfiction so it still feels like I'm growing my writing skills, even though a lot of things come easier than with original works.

26. Would you rather write a fic that had no dialogue or one that was only dialogue?

Easy, I write fics sans dialogue all the time. I do really enjoy dialogue and I think I've improved my ability to write it a lot, but introspection is still where I thrive.

50. Answer any question of your choice, or talk about anything you want to talk about!

Oh goodie, love this question! I'm going to answer 29: What songs would be (or are) on a playlist for [Here's a Safe Place to Lay Your Heart Down]? Explain your choices if you want!

I never used to be the kind of writer who had separate playlists for individual projects (outside of the occasional original work), just one massive playlist for the fandom. It's been a fun way to focus on some of the more effort-heavy, long-term WIPs! Here's the one for the ring fic:

The Graduate - The Arcadian Wild: The bittersweetness of growing up and your perspective shifting so you see the world as it truly is, for better and worse simultaneously. "When you were younger, you dreamed of being tall, but you discovered growing up just leaves you feeling small" / "Failing is fruitful, so long as we do not forget to move" / "We are wandering through the wild, we are wondering when not if we'll reach the other side... When we were ever alone? Together we'll make our way home"

Anomaly - Angels & Airwaves: Lockwood crush angst! "I never wanted to say how much I liked you, I never wanted to be one of your sad discoveries" - not feeling worthy of Lucy

Dark Mirage - Matthew Parker, HIDDEN EYES: Lockwood struggling and Lucy feeling helpless. "I don't possess the power to drive off the darkness that's haunting you, I pray the truth gets louder" - Felt fitting for the wallowing portions of this fic, considering Lockwood vastly overestimates his negative effect on Lucy. Also like... this level of angst is exactly what Lockwood is terrified of inflicting on Lucy, it's not actually like this but he's worried it could be if he's not constantly on high alert (which is what Lucy tells him she's willing to do if he ever needs it)

Taxi Cab - Twenty One Pilots: Ooh, this one hits hard on so many Lockwood & Co levels. "I wanna fall inside your ghost and fill up every hole inside my mind, and I want everyone to know that I am half a soul divided" is just such a good way to showcase Lockwood's growth, from the soul divided being between life and death to being part of a whole (with Lucy). The repetition of "don't be afraid" throughout a lyrical story that is so Lockwood all over just. Argh, it's very very hard for me to put this one into words. Like how the "don't be afraid" could at first be giving up but then it's a promise not to. And it gets at the same idea as the books do with Lockwood as both Christ figure and the one saved ("and then I asked them, am I alive and well or am I dreaming dead? And then one turned around to say, we're driving toward the morning sun, where all your blood is washed away and all you did will be undone"). There's a lot of imagery here I associate with the Other Side and the return, and so I connect it with Lockwood sort of dying and, upon symbolic resurrection, choosing a new life that involves opening himself up to Lucy... Ugh, yeah, this one's harder to explain, it just means a LOT to me

Hot Tea - half•alive: Obsessed with this as Lockwood being pathetically in love, tbh ("Wanna be here ar your door 12am and sleeping on your porch until you get in, looking into your eyes endlessly, crawling into your lap desperately"), and "can't afford to lose you any longer" fits very well for the canon era chapter, but also just the warmth of belonging to each other ("Hold you in my hands like hot tea, knowing I'm safe 'cause you want me")? That is always the Locklyle vibe I'm going for, but especially in this fic. Also the line "sip you through my front teeth" makes me think of Lockwood and his blue whale thing, hahaha

Spiders - Bear's Den: I will eventually come back to write the spiders symbolism kidfic that slots in later in this series, which is the only reason I did not end up using these lyrics for this fic despite it fitting the vibe so well. (Love, I'm Trying had at least three WIPs competing to use it as a title for a while there.) But, yeah, the whole thing with spiders as indicative of a haunting lends extra power to this one in an L&Co context, with lines like "I can't take back all the hurt I've caused, everything I love I have somehow lost, it's four in the morning abd the spiders are crawling in my mind, replaying pictures of all I can't undo, love, I'm trying, but I can't oull myself when the darkness comes" - and that being when Lockwood has to learn to go to Lucy, because that's what they do for each other, they pull each other out when they can't do it alone

Rain Clouds - The Arcadian Wild: The growth! While usually I associate this song more with Lucy, it does still work for Lockwood and the guilt he carries, moving from "I'm being shadowed by my past, reminding me of what I was and what I could become" to a sort of conversation of "I need someone to be my guide, listen to my voice, close your frightened eyes, hide behind my love for you, fear's only a choice, one that we all must make someday"

BREAKFAST - half•alive: Chosen as the title source for good reason; this song is all about vulnerability and the mortifying ordeal of being known, and practicing embracing the safety of leaving your heart in someone else's hands - starting out feeling reluctant and even panicky at the idea of openness ("I fled to the walls, yeah, be sure I'm surrounded, where no one can find me") to fighting your instincts and opening up no matter how hard it is, and being met with the reassurance of being seen and loved in all your complexity ("say you're open through tears and trembling, it's a major step, it's okay to fret, here's a safe place to lay your heart down"), and the reminder that messing up doesn't mean you've broken the relationship irreparably ("it's a second chance, it won't be your last"), which is a message Lockwood really needs to hear from Lucy in this fic, as they repeat old patterns with new endings

Lifeline - Angels & Airwaves: The forgiveness and gentleness Lucy offers Lockwood - "We all make mistakes, here's your lifeline"

Your Burden is Mine - Sarah Sparks, Kenny Komatsu: The doing life together part, a reminder that it's pride that intereferes with letting love in - "Don't spare me from anything, your burden is mine" / "Careful, my brother, there on your own, for it is a fool who suffers alone, there's none self-sufficient, only those who try, so swallow your pride, your burden is mine"

TrusT - half•alive: Ooh, this song absolutely messes me up re: redemption, and also unchanging adoration/stability even in the midst of conflict. Lockwood needs to hear it from a romantic relationship perspective ("rest and know the love you hold won't be taken back, no, how sweet the taste of certainty, the gift you gave is safe with me"), but it hits hard for me from a Christian theology perspective - and isn't that just the surprise theme of this fic, the ways marriage is meant as an echo of Christ's love for his bride, the Church. Also fits really well for this in-between space they find themselves in as they have an answer for the Problem yet are still working on the solution ("the tug of war in the now-not-yet... can you tell me why I feel this way? I have faith that the world I'm in will be redeemed again, but there's a weight that I can't explain, so tell me why I feel this way"), which I think is a tension in the background of most of my work in this particular series

The Kitchen - Tow'rs: For the imagery of dancing together in the kitchen as a way of making amends after a fight - "You made me dance in the kitchen with you, if I was the night then you were the moon"

What Home Feels Like - The Afters: Gosh this song is so CUTE, and that is the Locklyle vibe! Just the idea of finding home and belonging with the person you love - "There is no place I'd rather be for the first time in my life, I know what home feels like" / "No, I never wanna leave, 'cause I've found where I belong, this is what home feels like"

Let's Get Married - Bleachers: This is THE love post-trauma song, and fits the warmth of 35 Portland Row so well along with Lucy and Lockwood promising to make it work even when it's crazy hard, because they recognize where they're a little broken but they also believe building a life together is worth it

#personal #writer probs: fanfic edition #lockwood & co

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hathousehappenings · 10 months

Text

We've reached the point in the show where the Tweedles ditch their dated MC Hammer outfits and don something a little more timeless. Join me under the cut for the breakdown!

Their new outfits fit much better with the rest of the cast. Except for being in droopy onesies with belts they're now in a more streamlined pants and vest combo. They got to keep their cool-and-hip backwards hats, but the silver and chains have been completely dropped. I know that the actors fought hard to get better costumes and I definitely think it was worth it. It's too bad that these outfits weren't better memorialized on the VHS tapes. At least D+ hooked us up with better quality shots.

This was a real roller coaster, guys. I figured that I'd just take decent shots of their vests and piece them together to get a better idea of what the pattern on their fabric was. It shouldn't be that hard, right?

Well, I tried this three times and each time I got the same result. I even took new screenshots thinking that would help but it really didn't. The more I looked at it, the more I was convinced that this was a part of a much larger design but they only chose to use these specific parts because they were the most visually appealing. There has to be some kind of repetitive pattern, that's how textiles work, but I wasn't able to find one no matter how hard I tried. So went for another tactic.

I decided to break the pattern into the pieces that I could identify and then create something new. There looks to be a swirling background of purple, orange, magenta and cyan with little symbols and confetti placed around on top.

Unfortunately, I cannot give any real advice on how to make heads-or-tails of what the actual pattern on the fabric is. But I can tell you how I designed what I draw when I draw them. I looked through the series and found the versions of the vests that I really liked and interpreted those.

One thing that I do recommend is making their designs different. There are a couple episodes where they wear vests with the same variation of the pattern in the same places and that rubs me the wrong way. Let them be individuals. Maybe associate each of them a certain symbol more than the other? For instance, I usually draw Dum with more of the spirals and Dee with more blue on his vest.

The designs that I used are also a little bit different than how they appeared in the show. It's my shorthand that I use for the designs because they're just so busy and chaotic. I was also drawing them well before the better-quality videos were released. Now that I know how they are supposed to look I'll probably tweak my designs to better fit the originals.

Anyway, I hope this was of some use to you. It isn't as helpful as I'd hoped it would be, but it was an interesting exercise.

#aiw1992 #aiw #adventures in wonderland #character closet #tweedle dum #tweedle dee #tweedles #my art #screenshots

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juni-ravenhall · 11 months

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i rly think that ppl who feel a strong need to go "us versus them" in the sso criticism discourse need to just, take a deep breath and look within. there is so much black and white mindset always going on here, and so much bad ppl vs good ppl. its always been lacking in nuance and individuality and its frustrating.

there *are* ppl in the fandom who say really dumb shit, like fatphobic shit, sexist or racist shit, ableist shit.... but not everyone who criticises sso fairly and positively does any of that. not everyone who criticises sso annoyedly does any of that. not everyone who absolutely fucking hates sso does any of that.

there are equally ppl who genuinely are defending the most dumb shit from sse/sso just to be a defender and supporter without reason..... but not everyone who says something positive about the game does that. not everyone who loves the game does that. etc.

its not good and not okay to take out frustrations on people who dont actually do anything wrong or harmful (giving regular criticism, expressing personal opinions, giving fair praise - vs attacking staff, attacking other users for their opinion, posting harmful things, etc).

when you do that, you're blaming an innocent person for a perceived wrong from a "group" (like "haters" or "whiners" or "ppl who ruin my fun") that you have defined, that you associate "anyone who criticises things i disagree with" or whatever instead of "ppl who genuinely and provenly did something harmful". anyone who *seems* like they might be in that group annoys you, even if they arent.

consider why you think its okay to label people as invalid or unfair or unreasonable in their opinions if they have a different opinion than you but arent hurting anyone. (if you feel hurt by commercial media criticism, especially when its not even *your* product/work, there is a problem on your end that you should address.)

consider why you think its okay to say words like "ungrateful" about people who are simply voicing fair criticism or fair opinions about a videogame. i could call ppl ungrateful for not liking all my posts that i put so much work into making, but that would be really rude and ridiculous. its not kind and not nice to say things like that about ppl when they havent actually done anything wrong (criticising a videogame doesnt make someone "ungrateful", and posting harmless opinions on your own blog is not a problem).

the "us vs them" group system in sso fandom is usually along these lines: haters vs non-haters, haters vs defenders/whiteknights, or "any other critics" vs "those who see themselves as the only Good and Fair and Nice critics"... all of these are more or less the same groups just slight variation in the person's point of view. and all of them are bad, because these groups are not actually rigid and applicable in reality. people are individual and people are nuanced.

some of you guys post what i consider kinda unfair comments on sso sometimes. it could be good or bad comments, that i personally consider a bit too subjective or unfair or unrealistic or whatever. but i dont post rude, disrespectful or mean things about that on my blog, and i try to not act as if you belong to some group that youve never claimed to belong to (encouraging the "us vs them" mentality in the community).

if i *am* going to say "sso defenders" or "sso haters", i would be making sure to actually be talking to/about ppl who evidently belong to that label. ppl who defend sse even when it makes no sense, not just ppl who praise good things about the game. ppl who actually *hate* on the game, not just ppl who say something critical about it.

and you end up in those boring repetitive healthy-community-ruining social patterns when you give in to "us vs them" and to black-and-white, polarised, mindsets, when you dont actively see things as nuanced and varied and individual.

i really wish that ppl would step back and think, "this opinion / this criticism about sso made me feel annoyed/upset. why is that? what about it made me feel bad? am i taking something personally that isnt? did this person actually say anything harmful or wrong, or is it fair personal opinion? did they *actually* shove it in my face, or am i visiting a public space that is not curated only for me? am i painting this person as something they might not be in my mind? am i trying to sort them into a group, and if so, why?"

someone from the bullies will have a field day with this post and be like "omg juni is saying that ppl who disagree with him are mentally ill again!" (twisting words is helpful when you really want to make things black-and-white and "us vs them") but i do genuinely want to say that if you feel really hurt and upset by ppl having harmless disagreements or harmless criticisms about a videogame, there is a problem. it might have to do with your emotional boundaries ("criticism feels bad even when its not about me"), it might have to do with your self-worth ("you say sso is bad so you think im bad for liking it"), or various other things, and its not healthy. however, its also okay to feel unfair emotional reactions if you cant help them, but the problem is, you CAN help how you act, how you judge, and how you treat other people.

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oh-katsuki · 10 months

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being a writer and putting my work on the internet can be a little hard (rly hard), especially when i don't post fic often or frequently or spend a lot of time on one fic in particular.

like as a writer, i know i have a lot to work on. i constantly see things that need improvement or change. lots of fundamental parts of my stories are full of things or centered around things that i'd like to improve on. and i recognize that. i always have room to grow and get better.

it's tough though because being able to see and be critical of what i'm lacking as an artist makes it really hard to post a story or fic with confidence. even a finished story has things i'd like to change or improve on, though most of the changes are entirely structural or habitual, which are really hard to correct without rewriting the fic entirely. for example, as i was beta reading the notebook theory, i realized that a lot of my long fics follow the same story structure with little variation (specifically when it comes to smut). i tend to write within the same confines of storytelling with a shift in plot, motivations, themes, and characters. outside of that though, i've realized that a lot of things that i write are, more or less, very similar.

this could be because i have not been very into writing smut in the first place recently so the insertion of the scene feels unnatural and repetitive, or because i have written within the same genre of pining romance for about a year and a half now, or it could be something entirely different. it's probably a plethora of short comings that i have as a writer that i need to address one by one.

anyway, all of this to say that knowing those things and being in a stage of my writing journey where the places i need to improve are GLARINGLY obvious, makes it super hard to feel secure posting. i'm having trouble feeling proud of what i write. being honest, it feels like my stories and fics go absolutely nowhere and say absolutely nothing, though i hope that they don't come across that way to others who read them.

i'm having trouble seeing the value in my work because of it, which is a really tough pill to swallow. that sucks too because i write what i do for myself and not being able to see the value in it makes me really frustrated. i guess the best way to describe it is that even after finishing a long fic, i feel very stuck. frankly, i've been feeling this way since i started writing the inbetween, but i think i've only just put my finger on the reason. i think im frustrated with my writing style and the types of stories that i tell, which is difficult because i really like the genre i write in. they feel very stale to me and i'm having trouble viewing myself as a good writer, within or outside of that genre. it's not that i have to be good, but i want to be and i want to continue improving, i just feel like i've hit a ceiling that i can't move beyond.

and all that makes it a little scary to post something or to start something. i'm kind of sitting here now, adding the final touches to the notebook theory, and wondering if it's even worth posting. which i know is stupid because i worked hard on it and it doesn't have to be perfect. idk i guess lately all of the things i write have this perpetual feeling of incompletion that i can't seem to get rid of no matter what i change, rewrite, or edit.

anyway, that's all. these are just some thoughts i've been having.

#ive been feeling this for a while #and it's weird because i am simultaneously proud of and unhappy with what i write #which is a weird place to exist in as a writer and artist #and i know that the solution is to switch genres and try something new #which i plan to do once i finish and post the notebook theory today or tomorrow #but that's as scary a thought as it is exciting #because what if this feeling never goes away no matter what?#what if im terrible at writing in that new genre?#or like... idk what if im just not as good as i hoped i'd be?#idkkkkk lots of thoughts in the brain space today #and im not sad about it particularly.. more so just introspective and kinda eager to fix and get to the root of the problem-#as frustrating as it is #just trying to get my thoughts in order

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sercezgazety · 3 months

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Hello, I read your fic Variations and Fugue on a Theme, and I liked it! I always like when the narrator goes from talking about the present and the past smoothly, without spelling it out for the reader.

Do you have any further ideas for why Herbert mentions being put on Thorazine and (I assume) committed to a hospital as a child? You also write that his parents taught him that breathing through your mouth was bad manners, and that's all I saw that could point to his parents. He's obviously focusing on the most recent important event in his life, but it surprised me a little to see his mind not wander back to his childhood more while in solitary confinement.

I was also wondering what you intended with the repetition of the phrase "you take what you can get". I took it to mean that Herbert is trying to reevaluate every situation he thinks of, and the one he's currently in, to make himself more competent. He can't delude himself into thinking he made no mistakes, but he can delude himself into thinking he's smart enough that the mistakes don't really affect him that much, or actually have secret upsides that no one but him would be smart enough to utilize (like how he insists he likes solitary confinement because unlike him, other people need "contact with the rest of the primates") He has less paper but it doesn't matter, he has most of it memorized, and then he just needs paper for more advanced calculations, and then he can barely remember the word tinnitus and then he's only been writing the word Dan. But he brushes this off; he's "not sure how it happened", and then just flushes it down the toilet. Of course, mentally, and physically since the toilet backs up and overflows, Dan always comes back.

And, why did Herbert break all the fingers in that man's hand, if you have a specific reason.

Hiii, thank you so much!

As for the thorazine mentions, that's how I imagine it went down after Gruber's death - in the extended cut, Meg does mention he was put on a psychiatric observation after the, uh. Exploding eyeballs thing. I'd assume he wasn't concerned that much with his parents; from what the novelization tells us, they died early on and there's a strong suggestion that it was Herbert who was responsible for their demise (something that would probably be very traumatic to a child, but Herbert compartmentalizes shit; also, in my head, the not breathing through the mouth thing was something Herbert was taught not by his parents but in the institution he grew up in). It was Dr. Gruber that Herbert actually trusted and considered a father figure. In the greatest scene in cinematic history, we get to see That Single Tragic Tear Rolling Down Herbert's Cheek when Hill mentions Gruber. After all, Herbert comes to Miskatonic because he has a vendetta against Hill - though it's not his but Gruber's work that the asshole plagiarized. Gruber's death is something that clearly affected him, and I think Herbert dragged Dan into his work not only because he needed an extra pair of hands or, as the fandom tends to think, because he was attracted to Dan. I think Herbert wanted to recreate the mentor-mentee relationship to some extent, though this time, given how much Dr. Hill sucked and how there was no mentor figure available, he cast himself in that role.

Plus, of course, he latched onto Dan for... Reasons, whatever they were, and I'm not sure Herbert's fully prepared to face them, especially after Dan's betrayal. While Gruber's death must have hurt, it was easy to rationalize - but what Dan did? Oh boy. The second person in Herbert's life to be trusted, and he went and violated that trust like that. So, like you said, Herbert tries to brush the entire experience off, treating Dan as less than a person, denying any bond they might have had, swearing up and down this doesn't concern him at all, and still obsessively coming back to the memory of Dan - the man he thought he moulded into something he needed, but in reality, the man he was entirely dependent on. The guy who had the nerve to be his own person anyway, to show Herbert wasn't completely in control. The audacity!

It's pretentious as shit, but I intended to make the fic similar to a fugue - a piece that's sort of structured by a returning theme or a set of them, with numerous repetitions and variations on what we've already grown familiar with. The "you make it work" phrase is one of numerous things that keep coming back (the sound of the lightbulb being the most prominent one). Moreover, it's one of the many lies Herbert repeatedly tells himself (like "you don't remember much," "he'll come," the notion of settling for Dan, not choosing him, the assumption that Herbert remains unaffected by his surroundings and by Dan's betrayal). He's fine. He's fiiiiine, doing great.

He obsesses over those things to such an extent, he doesn't have the time to obsess about more distant past (like childhood). His brain is way too busy trying to delude itself into believing it's not fixating on Dan. Which it very, very obviously is. As for the broken fingers, well, I didn't want to be too specific and I intentionally left things vague, but there are, hmm, crumbs of context for that in the last chapter of The Pending Details (an attempted assault by an inmate who didn't know who he was dealing with and what is Herbert capable of. The answer being A Lot).

Anyways, thanks for reading and thank you so, so much for the lovely message!

#me? overthinking? never #vulgarized pop-psychoanalysis for the winnn

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oldestmakkapakkafan · 1 year

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OK TOUCHSTARVED DEMO REVIEW!! I JUST FOUND OUT THIS EXISTED YESTERDAY AND STARTED PLAYING

So I was scrolling through tiktok and got THE video of the trailer, immediately started playing which is surprising from me because I normally only procrastinate for everything, even for things I like. But yesterday was a good day it seems.

I started the game and after the short intro selected "the unnamed" backstory I think it's called?? I don't really remember but it was the one where you ran away from your cult village or whatever. For two reasons.

A. I didn't want to have exclusively witty one liners as my dialogue. (The criminal backstory)

B. I'm already playing the arcana (the mage backstory)

Of course I'll play the demo with each one of them later but rn I'm doing various play throughs with variations of what I feel like my own choices would be.

Now for how I like it overall, IT'S SO GOOOOODD!!! I loved everyone just from the trailer alone, everyone except vere, I just really hate his archetype. Let's say me and red haired otome guys have a long time beef, ancestral beef if you will (I'm looking at you castiel...). I just don't like the playboy who is also really mean for no reason and only flirts by making a fool out of you. Anyways, enough about someone I don't really like.

First KURAS, he's soooo my type 🤭 long hair, dark skin, calm and collected! Soo cute, I like his dialogue and interactions in the demo, I haven't unlocked his red option so I feel like he was a little too distant for my liking but I know that'll probably change with the full game (I assume he has one, I mean I got ais' and leander's without even trying).

Now Ais, tbh I tried to stay loyal to kuras but Ais is so hot, cool and kinda flirty... I WAS GIGGLING SO LOUD AND PUNCHING MY PILLOWS, I'm not always for bad boys bc it isn't really done right most of the time (in my opinion) but Ais is really something else.

And lastly Leander, he's hot and sweet, I don't really have much to say about him, I can tell he's the easiest route, at least for me. He's the type of character I can get the good ending of with my eyes closed. I mean we might as well be kissing him by the end of the demo. I still like him tho. I'm just more normal about him than I am about Kuras and Ais. And I can already see him being a fan favorite, so I better like him because all those fanarts are about to infest my feed.

As for mhin and vere. They're not really that interesting to me, I'd say my top would be like this

Kuras and Ais (yes, I just decided I like them both the same)

Leander

Mhin

Vere

Ok now the fan girling is over. Time for SERIOUS BUSINESS!

Art Quality? 9.5/10 soo pretty, the street and city sheets could use a bit more work though. It's kind of underwhelming at the beginning when you see the city and it doesn't really stand out. But maybe it's just me.

Dialogue quality? 9/10 it doesn't feel repetitive, it's immersive and even when there's some corny lines here and there, I'd say it's vere's fault for being a devious bad boy archetype. Because that dialogue is only present with him 🧍‍♀️

And that's it. Even with the wall of text I just wrote I've only played once three routes with the cult(?) Backstory. I will probably write more text walls as I get deeper into the fandom and game.

#touchstarved game #touchstarved #ais touchstarved #kuras #leander #vere touchstarved #mhin #visual novel #red spring studios #wall of text #game review

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