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cheolaholic · 9 months

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ring of love; csc (teaser !!)

the ring doesnt always have to be filled with violence.

modern! au • boxer! au • hhu focused • multiple kinds of tropes • fluff, angst, smut

summary; agreeing to join vernon spectate an underground boxing match wasn't how you'd expect to spend your friday night. you also didn't expect to see seungcheol, someone you've lost contact with for years, become a part of the ring.

contains; boxer! seungcheol, part-time barista! reader, gamer! wonu, part-time model! mingyu, rapper! vernon, vocalist! joshua (he appears for an open mic scene), they're all in college so college! au, psychology major! wonwoo, art major! vernon, art major! mingyu, business major! reader, business major! seungcheol, hhu playing cupid and matchmaker, no second lead syndrome drama kinda shit bcs i said so, childhood friends to lovers, seungcheol and reader lost contact somewhere in their teen years, seungcheol is an absolute simp for reader, multiple types of tropes to be found, seungcheol is rich (like absolutely filthy rich), same goes to the rest of the hhu (they don't flaunt it like how you'd expect most rich kids to do, just that occasionally reader would have a moment of realisation where she goes 'right, they have the money for that'), reader and her family aren't as rich but are well off enough to have a comfortable lifestyle (working middle class) there's fluff, some occasional angst

mature themes include; sexual tension, making out, lazily making out, fingering, oral (f&m receiving), dacryphilia, cheol is filthy rich and has a filthy mouth to go along with it, corruption kink, marking kink, unprotected sex (pls wrap it before you tap it), dom! cheol, sub! reader, light bondage, lots of cussing, etc

a/n; yaho~ ik i've been gone for what, 3 years? but, i am back baby! (read in shane/ryan's voice from buzzfeed/watcher) and first fic ofc, i'm dedicating it to my beloved husband, cheol <33 this fic basically proves my permanent residence in delululand lmao 🥴

click here to join the taglist ♡

"you... want me to join your endurance stream?"

a small hum was met with your question as wonwoo took a sip from his can of black monster energy drink. "...but, why..?" you asked, completely confused.

it wasn't as if you didn't like the idea, though you were caught off guard as the only games you've ever played were... well, more catered towards your style of aesthetic. games such as animal crossing, melatonin, a little to the left.

wonwoo's taste in games on the other hand, they were what you'd expect from majority of the male demographic on earth ㅡ FNAF, first person shooter games, he has a huge obsession with chilla's art games (to which you understand why after watching his playthrough of 'the closing shift' and 'night delivery').

the usual horror, thriller and action genre is what you're getting at.

"reason number one, you're pretty. and no, i'm not trying to hit on you," he then proceeded to raise his hand as if he was taking an oath, "i swear i'm not. i meant it as in, who wouldn't want to watch a pretty girl play games? i know your preferred genre of games and mine are two different worlds but, i'm sure we can compromise."

wonwoo surveys both your surroundings, seemingly to check whether the coast was clear; before propping his arms onto the coffee table and leaning forward.

"reason number two being if you join, i'll be able to get seungcheol to join too."

"so, you're getting me to join so you can get cheol to join?" placing a hand over your chest, you faked betrayal, "i feel so hurt that you're only using me as bait, woo."

"hey, i also want you to join, okay?"

taking a sip from your milkshake, you stared at wonwoo, urging him to continue his explanation.

"___, please. i even had the whole process of the endurance stream planned out! i just need seungcheol hyung to say yes, and you're the key to getting him to say yes!"

"woo, you're friends, of course he'll agree! i don't understand how i play a role in this. i'm sure bantering with mingyu, or even trying a 'no cuss' bet with vernon would be enough to get him to say yes."

shaking his head while sighing, he muttered out a "it's not that simple..."

"woo, i seriously don't get it."

"___, i'm going to be extremely honest, okay?"

you shoot the male sitting front of you a confused look, which prompted him to take a sip of his drink.

"this isn't the first time i've done an endurance stream, i'm sure you know that too. and i'm sure you've seen seungcheol join them but, not all the time. you'll notice it's usually gyu or vernon with me and chat's pretty much made it an inside joke that hyung's a rare pokemon sighting on my streams."

you let out a small laugh at seungcheol being called a rare pokemon sighting, which makes wonwoo smile.

"and, as of late, i've noticed that whenever we hung out, seungcheol would be there too. regardless if he had a match the previous night and his entire body is sore."

"but... we're friends, no? why wouldn't he be there?"

"okay, allow me to rephrase that sentence."

"mmm?"

"seungcheol hyung will only say yes if you're there too."

you're mouth opened slightly, shocked and confused. as you tried to process wonwoo's sentence, he added on.

"and this is just my assumption based on what i've observed from the day vernon introduced you up to now."

"you sound like a psychiatrist, woo..."

"i am a psychology student, no?"

"touché. and what have you concluded from your observation, mr jeon?"

"i think seungcheol likes you."

#kpop #seventeen #seventeen smut #seventeen fanfic #seventeen fluff #choi seungcheol #seungcheol #scoups #seungcheol smut #seungcheol x reader #seungcheol fluff #scoups smut #scoups x reader #scoups fanfic #scoups fluff #scoups scenarios #scoups imagines #cheolaholic.fics

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maxwellatoms · 6 months

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Do you have a favorite of your own characters? Or certain ones that you feel particularly connected to? I feel like creators tend to put bits of themselves into their characters--are any of them like that for you? Just wanna say your work is a huge inspiration to me and really helped shape my art and taste in media growing up, thanks for putting your work out into the world!!!

Theoretically, I love them all.

They're all a part of me in some way.

I've discovered over the years that I just can't handle characters I can't relate to. Most specifically, Billy, Mandy, and Grim are major facets of my personality. I purposefully related them to Freud's Id, Ego, and Superego, but they're all very specifically also a part of who I am. Billy is my fun-loving lust for freedom from schedules and consequences. Mandy is the part of me that realizes that Billy will destroy us all, so there must be structure. Grim is just trying to live his life. He wants to watch TV and pet cats, but life (unlife?) just won't give him a break. He's the viewpoint character to my Asperger's.

Irwin is the sad-sack/misguided hero redeemed, which is always a trope I love.

Eris is specifically the Discordian Eris, but also the extreme end of that Billy lust for freedom and the will of the RNG gods. (Good gravy -- my current BG3 playthrough)

Nergal is my love for Lovecraftian/Howardian Mesopotamian deities as has-beens.

Jeff the Spider (quite literally me at the time of his inception) was Too Nice, and therefore a sucker.

Hoss Delgado is the knowledge that if you gaze too long into the abyss... you end up with a chainsaw for a leg.

Then (because this is a collaboration) you've got characters who are primarily created by and representative of other people. For example, Fred Fredburger was created by C.H. Greenblatt. Sperg was created by Gord Zajac (as was Hoss, really). Boogey was created by Spencer Laudiero. All of these artists infused some piece of themselves into the character.

This is (IMO) where it gets fun. It's the ultimate Role Playing Game. It's childhood play made manifest. I've got my Luke Skywalker figure and you've got your Darth Vader figure and we've got two COBRA H.I.S.S. tanks and a Muffy from Battlestar Galactica and we're gonna hash this shit out.

Ideally, I think I'd want a "Simpsons World". A world where there are zero (or as close as possible) extraneous characters. Everyone represents something and everyone matters. I was so close with B&M. Fingers crossed I get there one day.

#the grim adventures of billy and mandy #billy & mandy #maxwell atoms #characters #development

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cryptotheism · 1 year

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did the soulsborne games have any influence on your writing, do you think? I've never played them but I read amber skies and now I'm watching playthroughs of dark souls and I keep finding myself thinking "this has amber skies vibes." something about the atmosphere and the environments and the introspection about the environments. idk. am i having a guy who's only seen boss baby moment

No no the writing of the souls games were deeply influential on me. Miyazaki's specific belief that the audience should never be given the whole story, that oftentimes a plotline or character thread are made immensely more powerful when we aren't given everything, is a huge part of my writing.

I'm also fascinated by the idea of lost history. I love how the passage of time only makes things more and more ambiguous and strange. There's so much opportunity for storytelling there. I love how the souls games feel like generations of history being piled on top of each other in a very realistically messy and ambiguous way.

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roach-works · 11 days

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Man your Fallout tv posts are intriguing as hell, has me wanting to check out the show (which my fellow game-lover friends seem to have thoroughly rejected after the first ep). Also... I'd just.... really like you to play New Vegas if you like that kinda game. :3 or watch a playthrough or take a wiki walk or something. idk wanna spread the Fallout Love... i'm glad youre having fun!

i've definitely gotten the sense that the show didn't deliver the experience the game fans wanted! which is really a shame. when i compared it to like, Mad Max, or The Last of Us, or the Walking Dead, i thought it was a pretty good ride! i don't watch very much TV honestly and i find a lot of dystopia fiction annoying or depressing. but i thought the sets and costumes were fantastic, i liked all the characters, and i thought it had some decent things to say about truth, freedom, and morality.

like, i can see where people are coming from in criticizing the problematic elements, but to me, maybe because i'm coming in very fresh and naive, it all felt pretty cohesive and reasonable in context. bad stuff happens in the show because.... bad stuff happens! like, yeah, it's bad! that's the point.

i dunno! to me it really felt like an adult show, both in terms of being joyously violent and nasty, but also in terms of just frankly saying 'look, the world's fucked up and everyone thinks they know why and what to do about it--do you? are you sure? this is a really big mess.' and lately i like that more than kids' shows that really try to teach me lessons.

#shoutout to my boy maximus #gotta be one of my favorite losers #fallout

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is-mise-setanta · 17 days

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Heyy moots and anyone else that followed me from the found family post i have a game you'd absolutely love

☆In Stars and Time☆

It's about an adventure party at the end of their journey when the main character gets stuck in a timeloop at the final boss

It's got lots of found family and a ton of trans and aro/ace representation

On top of that it has a gorgeous artstyle, music and the coolest plot i've seen in a while.

This game literally ticks all my boxes for content i like and I think a lot of other who have liked stuff i've reposted will also like it so pleaseeeeee play it (or watch it, Jelloapocalypse did a sick, fully-voiced playthrough of it) i need someone to yell about it with

#lowkey sideyeing some of my mutuals with this #i KNOW you'd love this #transgender #asexual #aromantic #aroace #found family #isat #in stars and time #fyp

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claudemblems · 6 months

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"I Have a Crush on YOU!" ft. Ace + Leona | Twisted Wonderland

"All you talk about is your crush! Why don't you just go tell him how you feel already?!" "Fine, I like you!" "???"

Summary: Tired of listening to you going on and on about your mystery crush, Ace and Leona suggest that you should just confess your feelings already, and so you do...

They just weren't expecting that your crush would be on them.

Content: Fem!Reader. Slight angst (arguments) with a hint of fluff. Ace and Leona are oblivious fools (they're trying their best)

Notes: I officially started playing Twisted Wonderland not too long ago (I'd been watching playthroughs on YouTube) and I've had so much fun with the game :3 I love my TWST boys so much

ACE TRAPPOLA

Ace wasn't sure how much more of your "girl talk" he could take before he finally lost his sanity.

For the past 15 minutes, you'd dramatically fawned over your unnamed crush without ceasing, taking every opportunity to highlight his good traits, his charming personality, even commenting on how his borderline idiotic tendencies still managed to somehow look endearing in your eyes. Honestly, the more you talked about this guy, the more Ace began to wonder what in Twisted Wonderland you actually found attractive about him. He almost felt inclined to inform the headmage about your concerning mental state, but then he remembered Crowley had a knack for making every situation even worse.

So Ace had endured and endured until he couldn't anymore, desperate to finally put your incessant ramblings to a rest.

"He's so oblivious but also so sweet in his own way. I just like everything about him! I don’t think any of his flaws could make think of him any less—”

"Okay, Prefect! I get it, alright? You like him!"

You stopped midway through your sentence, brows furrowing at Ace’s sudden outburst. "I'm sorry?"

"You talk about this guy day and night! Don't you ever get tired of listening to yourself say the same thing?"

"What? Does talking about my crush annoy you that much?"

Ace groaned, letting his body flop back against the couch in protest. "That's not what I said. I'm just tired of coming over to Ramshackle only to listen to you gush about some guy I don't even know! How am I supposed to have a conversation with you if it's so one-sided?"

The room grew quiet for several moments, Ace hoping that the silence meant you were thinking of another topic to discuss. But little did he know that the conflict he'd simply wanted to resolve had just turned into an ominous storm.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for letting you know I like 'some guy.' I thought you'd be interested because you're my friend."

Ace's irritation grew increasingly by the minute, and he could barely stop the barrage of heated words falling off his own tongue. "Friends get tired of hearing the same thing every day!"

"Friends care about what each other have to say, unlike you!"

"Would you stop throwing a tantrum like a child?"

"Would you stop being such a jerk?"

"How about this: if you like this guy so much, why don't you just tell him?!"

"You know what? Fine. I like you, Ace Trappola, for better, or obviously, for much worse!"

As soon as the words reached his ears, Ace's heart skipped in his chest, the reality of the situation finally dawning on him. He then bolted upright, staring at you with pupils blown wide. "Wait, what did you just say?"

Unfortunately, he didn't receive an answer. You'd already marched your way over to the front door, ignoring the sound of Ace scrambling to his feet behind you.

"Prefect, wait!"

The only answer Ace received was a door slamming shut in his face, leaving him in a thick and almost unbearable silence. He could only watch through the windows as you hurried away from the dormitory grounds, no doubt going out to seek some peace and quiet.

“I like you, Ace Trappola.”

He had to be dreaming…right?

"I know you're an idiot,” a voice piped up next him, clicking their tongue in disapproval, “but I didn't expect you to screw up this badly.”

Ace turned to see Grim floating beside him, shaking his head and loudly sighing. "I told her she was going to end up getting hurt falling for you of all people."

"I don't wanna hear sass from you, tanuki."

"Well, was I wrong?"

He wasn't, and that was a hard pill for Ace to swallow.

You'd liked him, him of all the boys in that school, of all the boys in Twisted Wonderland, and of your own world, too. You saw something in him that made you so, so happy….

So happy that you'd spent every day gushing about how much you liked him.

And what had he done in return? Minimized your feelings and asked you to shut up already.

Screwing stuff up was just the Ace way of doing things, but he couldn't allow himself to continue on this way, not when his stupid actions ended up hurting you.

Especially because he liked you just as much, maybe even more.

At first, he'd tried to push his feelings away, likening them to puppy love or a phase that he'd grow out of in the next week or so. But he found that every time he looked at you, his breath would catch in his throat, his heart would drum fast beats against his chest, and all he could think of was how much he wanted to hold you close and finally admit that he was mesmerized by you—every single part of you—and that no one had ever managed to make him feel that way before. But he might have just blown his chance at confessing with the shameful words he'd thrown your way.

No...he couldn't give up. At least, not before he tried to set things right.

"Grim," Ace began, already formulating a foolproof plan in his head, "if I said I already had 10 cans of tuna with your name on them, would you be willing to be my wingman for the day?"

LEONA KINGSCHOLAR

Were all herbivores this insufferable when it came to being in love?

You were one of the few people Leona genuinely liked. Most people he tolerated, a select few he couldn't stand to be in the same room with (sorry Malleus), but you intrigued him, challenged him in his thinking and his own perception of himself. It annoyed him to no end, but it also left him wanting to know more about you. Plus, you were a lady, and he'd been raised to respect any woman he had the pleasure of meeting.

But keeping his composure was an impossible task when you couldn't spare him a mere five minutes of silence.

"My friends don't understand what I see in him. I'd probably think the same if the roles were reversed. But maybe I just see good things about him that they don't. If only they knew what a kind person he really is deep down, maybe they'd—"

"Hey, herbivore, are you gonna keep torturing me with your sappy love stories, or are you gonna let me finally get some sleep?"

"Uh...I..."

Leona briefly opened an eye at you as he took in your confused expression, shifting around on his bed as made himself more comfortable. "I don't know why you'd talk about that sort of stuff to me of all people. You've got those Heartslabyul guys to gossip to, don't you? They'd be interested in hearing your woes."

"I didn't know talking about my crush made you so irritated," you said, face falling in shame and embarrassment.

"It's just irritating when I'm trying to get a nap in,” he yawned as if to further prove his point. “I don't know what you're trying to accomplish by telling me all this anyways."

"I'm telling you because you're my friend..."

"And friends get tired of each other sometimes and need their own space, and you refuse to give me any."

His words carried a bite to them, and you’d nearly shot back at him in your anger. But you held your tongue, reserving your energy for a better cause.

"...You're right. I'm sorry for disturbing you. It seems that you don't return my feelings at all anyways, so I won't talk about them again."

Leona's eyes shot open at your admission, and suddenly a weight felt as if it had fallen onto his chest. You liked him? He was this mystery person you'd been praising nonstop every time you came over to the dorm?

He was a massive idiot, even more so than those two Heartslabyul boys who'd nearly been expelled on the first day of classes.

And Leona actually admitting that to himself said a lot.

"I'll be going now."

"Herbivore, wait." Leona reached out to grab your wrist, but you'd veered out of his way, hurrying out of the botanical gardens. Just as soon as you'd confessed, you were gone, and Leona was left to ruminate on all of his mistakes he’d made in a matter of seconds.

He was a prince with all the money and power in the world he could ever want, but none of it could help him figure out how to undo this mess and make things right.

If only you knew he cared for you, too, more than he wanted to admit. His naps weren't the same without you there beside him, and the dorm felt empty without your presence. You livened up the atmosphere with your warm smiles and laughter, and night after night, your face would be the last thing he envisioned before finally succumbing to a restful sleep.

As much as he'd tried to push down those pesky feelings building in his heart, he'd eventually come to realize they were there to stay. And, truthfully, all the more glad for it. He’d never imagined falling for someone, afraid that no one would want a second-rate prince, yet there he was, yearning for the chance to love and be loved by you.

Now he was left with two choices: letting you go, or picking up the scattered pieces of your heart and piecing them back together as best as he could.

And letting you go was an option he couldn’t even think to consider.

“Well, I guess it's time to finally be honest about my feelings for once,” Leona said to himself, rising to his feet with a newfound confidence. “And if everything goes well…” a small smile formed on his face at the picture that came to life in his mind, “then there’ll be one more person to add to my pride."

#twst #twst x reader #ace x reader #leona x reader

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infinitebrians · 4 months

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Favorite Games of 2023 Part 4: Pseudoregalia

I knew Pseudoregalia was going to be good the minute I started the game and did the input for the Mario 64 side flip jump and the game’s main character Sybil did her own version of that satisfying jump. One of my all time favorite things to do in a Mario game (or any game) is that side flip, a jump that is as practical as it is just simply satisfying to do. Sybil being able to do that jump without needing any of the power ups found in the game told me that the developers of this game knew the importance to making character feel good jumping around in a 3D world. Her movement only gets better from there with a bunch of new platforming abilities that makes her capable of getting what feels like anywhere in that game world if desired. The pure control you have over Sybil's platforming capabilities gave me so many great moments of pure curiosity to experiment with what could work. What's better is watching friends and others play the game and figure out their own solutions to the game's open ended platforming design. There are no wrong answers in the world of Pseudoregalia, just results.

This game was a complete surprise in just about every way, just the best feeling platformer I’ve played in a long while in this small, cleaned up former game jam game. I’ve followed the main dev rittzler on twitter for a few years because the gameplay clips of their work have all looked fun and impressive and they always shared other really cool indie dev work as well. So, I was excited to finally play Pseudoregalia when it was announced to be released. It's super low price (6 dollars USD) and being something I was able to finish in the span of one day alone was a huge breath of fresh air in this current gaming environment. It’s something I’ve been personally thinking a lot about recently is the appeal of a simpler, lower priced game. It’s appeal to me coming from playing something that never needs to be some sort of omnipresent, super game. Instead, Pseudoregalia presents itself in a humble statement of, ‘here, enjoy a few hours jumping around this wacky maze like castle as a goat bunny lady!’.

I'm not a person who typically ever has a desire to replay a game right after finishing it, I usually prefer to immediately move on to another game that I've been wishing to play for for a while. Pseudoregalia is a game I've played four or so times now from start to finish, I even started another playthrough in preparation for this drawing/writing and found myself wanting to play it all the way through again. Its the first time I found myself actually physically seeing the appeal of speedrunning, a hobby I always just enjoyed as a spectator. Pseudoregalia just lends itself so neatly to that part of me that loves routing out a path for stuff. How quickly can you find all the vital movement abilities for Sybil? What's unnecessary, what can be improved, what can be gathered while on the path of gathering something else. From at least my perspective of not actually investigating the proper speedrunner's routing, the options feel immense. From these handful of times replaying the game I've gotten a good handle of finding my way around the map and a good idea of how to get a lot of the really important movement abilities almost immediately. It also made the game feel quite different from how it felt to me with my first playthrough, what was once mysterious and labyrinthine was now a familiar playground.

That is one thing I will miss when doing those repeat playthroughs is that sense of discovery that occurred with that initial run. Soon before Pseudoregalia came out, I watched a lot of Videochess and spaghoner's exploration and documentation of the incredible Mario 64 hack, B3313 ( https://youtu.be/pLKB0SG0i8c ). I found that hack incredible at creating a sense of uneasiness and wonder from simply keeping you constantly guessing what was next behind each door something even those two expressed while streaming. During my first playthrough of Pseudoregalia, I was completely lost in that castle and was constantly finding paths that led to new zones or ones circled me back to old ones from hours ago. It was a pretty incredible feeling of discovery that only wore out it's welcome at the end when I just needed one more big key necessary for progression. What helped make exploration in both of these games engaging the whole time is that aspect of having a really fun character to move around as while being lost. It was okay with being completely lost because I could still just keep doing these long jumps into wall kicks that just make Sybil go fuckin' fast in an immensely satisfying way.

I think in the time it's taken me to think about this game again, and briefly revisit it in preparation for this art/writing I've come to decide that this is probably my favorite new game of 2023. In a year full of fantastic platformers to pick from, this one was just a class above in terms of movement design and movement application.

#drawdogs #art #pixel art #favorite games of 2023 #writing #pseudoregalia #sybil pseudoregalia

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underdark-dreams · 2 months

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I am totally crediting George Taylor (Rolans VA) for the Rolan love lately. The way he gasses up the character and is so into the fandom and his character he voiced. Then going and playing the game on Twitch! He's helping all of us find our love for Rolan, at least helping with it.

1000% agree! I think George Taylor knows exactly what he does to the Rolan nation, in the best possible way. 😂 We are very lucky to be fans of a character with such a passionate and dedicated VA. Especially a VA who is already so plugged in to PC gaming! I've only been able to catch a few of his recent BG3 streams, but he is so very entertaining to watch and kind to his fans. And for anyone who is hesitating to request a Cameo from him, consider this your sign to DO IT! He is a wonderful person to be a fan of!

For anyone who might not know, George is doing a live signing with Streamily this Saturday 2/17 at 8:00 PM GMT. He'll also be answering fan-submitted questions live on stream. I can't wait!

George's Streamily - If you'd like a signed print before they sell out!

Q&A for the 2/17 Signing - Question submissions close tomorrow 2/14 at 11:59pm GMT, so don't forget to submit a question for George, especially if you've bought a print for the signing. Be sure to read & abide by the Q&A guidelines! 🖤

George's Twitch - Live BG3 playthrough streams every Monday and Wednesday (he's still early in Act 1, tune in for chaos!)

George's Cameo - Self explanatory. Such range, darling!

#george taylor #bg3 rolan #holy rolan empire #underdark dreams asks

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getvalentined · 22 days

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What’s your opinions of the various ffvii compilation games?

Oh I am a huge proponent of the Compilation as a whole; I know that opinion is rare for someone who's been in the fandom from the beginning, but I'm an insufferable lore gremlin and I just eat up everything the series has to offer. I have three different copies of Advent Children (the original on DVD, ACC on DVD, and ACC on blu-ray) and even still watch Last Order on occasion.

The series itself is really fascinating and staggeringly consistent (I've talked about how the implied timeline of the Jenova Project as presented in-game is so consistent that it matches up with real-world human gestational science), with the exception of the FF7Re series—which I can deal with, since it's canonically on a different timeline and therefore any retcons there are literal in-universe retcons, which is pretty brilliant.

That said, I'mma put ratings for the pieces of the Compilation individually under a cut!

OG FF7: 9/10. would be 10/10 if the English localization were better. Where it all started, still one of my favorite games of all time.

Advent Children (+Complete): 8/10. Not a game, but part of the Compilation! Anyone who says the plot makes no sense doesn't realize that they're watching a sequel that relies very heavily on people understanding the history and characterization of every single character shown.

Last Order: 6.5/10. Also not a game, also part of the Compilation. Love that this is implied to literally be Tseng's coverup of what happened with Zack, presented in anime form. Makes no sense in multiple places as a result, but if you know that's what it is then you can 100% see why it's portrayed that way! Honestly I really enjoyed it and wish more people would appreciate it for what it is.

Dirge of Cerberus: 7/10. The gameplay kinda sucks but honestly the storyline is super good—or it would be, if the entire fucking prologue hadn't been cut from any release outside Japan, thereby leaving the entire issue with DeepGround completely unexplained to all other audiences. Once you know what is going on, the storyline here is fantastic, and I've never really forgiven SE for not releasing the rest of it. I love that Dirge fills in the lore for Vincent that was cut when he was relegated to "optional" in the OG, and that it also helps to clarify why Midgar could have 9 functional mako reactors while every other reactor in the world is either sputtering to nothing or exploding. (It's Omega. Midgar is built over Omega. It's the place where all lines of the Lifestream converge so that Omega can draw it all in and carry it away at the end of the world, and Shinra never discovered that's why the mako well there is so expansive. I love good worldbuilding, and Dirge is a beautiful example of that.)

Before Crisis: N/A. I want this game so bad man where is it give it to meeeee. Honestly tho I've watched playthroughs and read scripts where available, and while I don't think it looks like much fun from a modern gameplay perspective, I have huge respect for it as far as development goes. This is one of the first really mainstream mobile games ever made, it was made for flip phones, and it's super extensive! Also it gave me Veld, who is one half of my favorite ship ever, which means it automatically gets a 7/10 even if I've never played it.

Crisis Core (+Reunion): 9/10. As fun to play as the OG. When I first played this on PSP over a decade ago, it hit me with such an intense feeling of nostalgia that it almost took me off my feet. In spite of the dramatic difference between game mechanics in CC versus the OG, it felt exactly like playing the OG again, and that feeling never really left. Humanized Sephiroth in a beautiful way that pissed off a bunch of fanboys and made me fall in love with him all over again. Also introduced my second favorite FF7 character ever, Genesis, who is one half of one of my core FF7 ships, so A+ on that too!

FF7 Remake (+InterMISSION): 8/10. Had a lot of fun with this one, and it's beautiful, but it doesn't have a lot of replayability in my experience, which is a shame. Would have been 6 or 7/10 if not for InterMISSION, which was a fucking delight.

FF7 First SOLDIER: 6/10. This applies to both the Battle Royale and the title in Ever Crisis. I am not a fan of Glenn & Co. but I love 14 year old Sephiroth and really appreciate that extension of lore and worldbuilding, so it's a decent balance. I love that the opening cutscene for the battle royale literally filled a 20+ year old plot hole in under two minutes.

FF7 Rebirth: 9.5/10. The only things that could make me like this game more would be if Vincent were playable (although I understand why he's not and, in spite of him being my favorite fictional character ever, I agree with this decision), and fewer required minigames. Just cut like one or two. Or fix the controls, maybe. Glide de Chocobo is even more broken now that it's been patched.

#fandom ramble #ff7

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monstersandmaw · 10 months

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I am unreasonably excited for this stardew fic im hearing about 👀 (also seb, my love- i always end up romancing him)

Thank you! In all my playthroughs (maybe five before this one, lol) I've never romanced anyone. This one (which inspired this story) I decided to romance and marry Seb :).

The story is gonna feature a lot of the game and setting as inspiration, but I'm going to edit the mechanics a bit so it's less contrived, and there are gonna be more supernatural elements and folks at play... :). And an affectionate, fwb situation with Elliott before the end-game Sebastian romance, just a heads up.

Since you were kind enough to reach out about it, here's a 1400 word WIP sneak peek of Rowan, my gruff, buff werewoof farmer:

(CW: standoffish, loner character with scars on his neck from a werewolf bite, passing mention of a werewolf attack at night that nearly killed him)

This run-down, wild farm, with its endless tangle of fairytale brambles arcing around the roots of maple and oak trees, and its overgrown ponds full of frogs and flowering water weeds, was beyond perfect.

Of course, Rowan knew next to nothing about organic vegetable farming, but that was a problem for another day.

Mayor Lewis dithered on the top step a moment longer before taking his leave with Robin and heading back up the rutted path towards the town. Apparently Rowan had been taciturn enough to drive the chatty old man away, and something about him had evidently unnerved Robin a little. Maybe it was the mess of scars on his throat. He didn’t much care. If it meant they left him alone, so much the better. He wasn’t sure that anyone but Robin in her off-road pickup could make it comfortably along the winding drive to the farm anyway, and it was a miracle that the old man hadn’t toppled into a pothole or a ditch on his way over.

Rowan watched them leave together, deliberately ignoring their nattering gossip about him, which carried easily enough on the spring air to his sharp ears, and he felt something new prickle down his spine. It wasn’t even close to the full moon — he’d made damned sure of that before booking his one-way ticket to the sleepy little valley — but something about this place set the wolf in him prowling. He realised with a jolt that his wolf liked this new territory, with its fresh air and cacophonous birdsong. Where he’d been fractious and aggressive in the city, prone to lashing out when he felt the least bit cornered or trapped, now his wolf was practically bounding on the spot to explore his new territory and claim it as his own, and Rowan recoiled from the idea.

“I am not an animal,” he snarled at himself.

He thought that after bearing the curse for a year, he should have been far more accustomed to the feeling of there being a whole new part of himself inside his own head, or in his heart. And yet, noticing that the way he was feeling was largely because of the wolf, and not his human side, still freaked him the fuck out.

He turned back to the front door of the tumbledown cabin where his grandfather had lived until he’d had to go into care five years earlier, and immediately put his boot through the rotten boards of the veranda with a curse and another snarl. A small family of mice skittered away beneath the house, their pungent smell rising through the new hole to his sensitive nose, and he sighed. “Still not alone, even out here.”

Although the moon was only halfway to full, and against his better judgement, Rowan did let the shift sweep over him a few nights later, and as he sloughed off the complex trappings of his human life and sank his claws delightfully into the velvet-soft dirt, he patrolled the perimeter of the farm where his human self had spent his first week in Stardew Valley clearing weeds and setting up his first organic vegetable beds.

His wolf didn’t think about the uppity shopkeeper in the general store or the awkward blacksmith who’d smelled of a nauseous cocktail of discomfort, anxiety and axle grease, or the harried-looking man in a tweed jacket who’d smelled of coffee and antiseptic. His wolf lowered its head to the ground and inhaled the scents of rabbit and squirrel. It couldn’t decide if it was relieved or saddened to find no trace of wolves — shifter or otherwise — in the area, but seemed to settle for relieved as he slunk like a deeper shred of shadow from the porch of the farmhouse and bounded off into the dark to explore the place with the new, golden eyes of a wolf in place of the slightly blurry, hazel eyes of a human.

A rockfall in the cliffs behind the wreckage of the greenhouse had exposed a damp cave some years ago, though it smelled of bat guano and little else to interest a wolf. He let it be. Trotting eagerly on, the wolf relished the decadent flex and stretch of its powerful muscles, and the bliss of being able to shift whenever the fancy took him was enough to make him tilt his head to the sky and howl his ecstasy at the silent stars.

Rowan knew that being bitten and turned, and dumped unknowingly into the secret world of the supernatural, had taken its toll on him.

His sanity had been right on the ragged edge when he’d come across that forgotten letter from his grandfather in a desk drawer. After a year of trying to hold the remnants of his miserable life in the city together, of slinking down into an old storm drain on the edge of an abandoned industrial estate every full moon, to cage and contain his frustrated, furious wolf, Rowan had known he had to get out of the city. Permanently. It was messing with his wolf and he was losing more of his awareness to it with each passing full moon. He’d also started zoning out at his desk at work and coming-to with claws out and the wolf prowling right beneath his yellow-eyed facade of calm, even halfway through the cycle. The constant clacking of keyboards, the shrill, metallic ringing of office telephones, and the stink of leftover lunches from the cubicle next door to his was going to make him snap. Violently.

Part problem and part gift, his wolf existed purely in the ‘now’. There was no painful past; no human lying abandoned and bleeding and irrevocably changed on the rain-soaked tarmac of a grotty bus station; no human who’d drifted out of touch with his one surviving family member; no bills overdue and no landlord to keep happy. There was only the scent of moss and emerging spring grass and last year’s fallen pine cones, and the echo of a fox’s passing trail across the land which was now his territory.

Rowan’s wolf followed its nose down to the lower pond and lapped luxuriantly at the rich, cool water. His ears drew back and another thrill of delight ran down the length of his body as the sweet, wholesome taste of the water exploded across his tongue; he could detect none of the pollution and chemicals of the city water, just fresh spring that bubbled up from the depths of the earth, carrying with it the minerals and magic of the place.

Yes, this place had magic in abundance.

His grandfather had married a witch, so magic had been in Rowan’s blood already before he’d been mutilated by a lone werewolf at three in the morning in a filthy, city bus station. Perhaps that had been why a bite that messy had taken when it would have killed most people. He prayed he never met his monstrous sire, because he knew he’d rip his fucking head off for ruining his life and turning him into a slathering, near-mindless monster once a month. It was probably only by sheer, dumb luck that he hadn’t been killed by hunters, or killed someone himself by accident, and it had only been by the grace and patience of a blue-haired witch named Mercury that he’d even known what was happening to him in the first place. He shuddered to think where he’d have been without her.

A figure moved in the darkness at the edge of the trees on the southern-most reaches of his property and his lips drew back into a snarl.

“Easy, Rowan,” came a resonant, bass voice, and he froze, tilting his head, ears pricked. He recognised that voice, but couldn’t place it. For answer, he just growled a warning. “Easy,” came the voice a second time. “Rowan MacTavish, I am not here to hurt you. It is I, Rasmodius.”

At the sound of his full name on the still night air, Rowan’s whole body shivered, but the wolf let go of his mind a little. Thought came to him just a little easier. Rasmodius. That was the name of the wizard in the tower. Rowan blinked his golden eyes and sat back on his haunches.

“May I approach?”

He whined and ended the sound in a soft sneeze. Close enough to a petulant ‘fine’, he supposed.

___

(more soon, hopefully, if there's interest :3)

#werewolf farmer #stardew valley farmer #stardew valley fic #rowan the werewolf #farmer rowan #ask me anything #wip

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