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thankskenpenders · 8 months

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Amy's fortune cards

The Sonic fandom has long been the kind of fandom that takes minor details very seriously, for better or worse. On the one hand, this means fans will really dig for the diamonds in the rough, latching onto fun character interactions, animations, bits of background worldbuilding, and more in pieces of Sonic media that many would write off as "the bad ones." But it also feels like every week another needlessly hostile debate over Sonic minutia erupts on Twitter, whether it's over individual lines of dialogue, fanart that makes Tails' shoes blue, or the ideal length and volume for Sonic's quills.

So it was probably inevitable that a fandom-wide debate would erupt upon seeing Amy's new gameplay style in the DLC for Sonic Frontiers, which takes the once-obscure fact that she enjoys reading tarot and shines a spotlight on it like never before.

I mean:

The thing is, while I basically always try to tune out Sonic fandom bickering... for once, I kind of sympathize with the detractors? Don't get me wrong, I like Amy's tarot stuff, and people on all sides of the discussion are being overly nasty about their opinions, as usual. (Sonic Twitter remains my personal hell.) But when I set aside the hyperbole and zoom out, I do think I understand why some fans are put off by the sudden shift in focus for the character, even if I think it's cool.

It's complicated. Let me attempt to present the cases for and against Amy's fortune cards

For years, I was always one of those fans who thought it could be fun if they played with Amy's tarot reading, or even leaned into some kind of magic with her. Part of that is my own biases showing, but there's just something that makes sense there, especially when you look at Sonic, Tails, and Amy as a trio. (I would argue that's the real "Team Sonic" these days, especially in the comics where Knuckles is more likely to be stuck on Angel Island or otherwise doing his own thing.)

You could argue that Tails is all about logic, relying on science and technology and deductive reasoning to solve problems. But Amy is all about emotion. She wears her heart on her sleeve, is extremely empathetic, and is very prone to magical thinking - both figuratively and sometimes literally. Her origin story has always been that her tarot cards told her it was her destiny to meet Sonic on Little Planet. She's claimed to be able to "sense" peoples' presences - particularly Sonic's. She's the type to believe that The Power of Love is a literal magical force. So, on some level, it makes sense to mirror Tails's science by having Sonic's other best friend believe in magic. And then Sonic is somewhere in the middle, primarily following his own gut instincts but taking advice from both of them as needed. This isn't totally accurate to how their dynamics actually function in canon stories, but I think it's a mode that could work for them.

Going off of that, it's fun to lean all the way into Amy being a magical girl, or even a witch, using her fortune telling as a foundation. Take, for example, this version of Amy from Diana Skelly's old Sonic cast redesigns from before she freelanced for Archie and IDW. This is one of MANY such redesigns for Amy.

Fast forward to the 2020s, and Amy's tarot cards are, in fact, finally getting brought up again in canon. Which is fun! I like seeing that. I like all of the individual stories involving Amy's fortune cards. This is a fun character trait for Amy, a fun nod to old lore, AND a fun storytelling device, all in one. It's really cool that the Sonic universe has its own thematically appropriate arcana, and that the cards are getting made as physical merch. And sure enough, the official card backs and borders were designed by none other than Diana Skelly, in yet another cool example of an ascendant fan leaving their mark on the series.

BUT... when you step back and look at the big picture, I get why some fans find this shift in focus jarring. At the moment, it's starting to feel like every new story about Amy involves her fortune cards to some degree.

The most recent mainline comic arc to feature Amy as the lead character, 2021's Trial by Fire arc, prominently features a sequence where she reads fortunes while camping with the girls. The Origins version of Sonic CD now bookends the game with scenes of Amy and her tarot cards. Sonic randomly mentioned it in a scene in Frontiers. And now, just this week, we got the (very cute, gorgeously illustrated) Amy's 30th Anniversary comic with a story revolving around Amy's tarot cards, followed the very next day by the Frontiers DLC in which she gets a brand new tarot-based moveset. Even her base melee attack now has her throwing tarot cards instead of swinging her hammer. Again, I like all of these individual things, but after years of it almost never coming up at all, it's VERY noticeable that Amy's tarot cards are suddenly everywhere.

To be fair, I'm looking at this from the perspective of a superfan who's actively following ALL Sonic media. Casual fans - especially kids - aren't necessarily going to be reading the comics every month, buying the thousandth rerelease of the Genesis games, or playing the ultra-hard new alternate ending DLC for a game that came out last year. Each of these stories is going to be someone's introduction to the idea that Amy can read tarot, and that's probably part of the idea behind this unified push.

But to play devil's advocate, for my fellow superfans, I understand why it feels like a very minor footnote of Amy's character is suddenly becoming the entire focus of her personality. While Amy has always been said to enjoy fortune telling, that wasn't really a character trait in and of itself, but rather an example of her being a typical girl who hopes she'll be able to find true love one day. It's less that Amy can literally predict the future and more like her using a cootie catcher or going "he loves me, he loves me not" while picking the petals off of a flower. So I get not vibing with this stuff, or feeling like it's being pushed very hard out of nowhere.

What I don't agree with are comparisons like "it's like if they made Knuckles' moveset revolve around him liking grapes." Like, I get it. Ian Flynn loves shoehorning in his little winking references for us nerds, and mentions of Amy's tarot cards were previously on the same level as other random bullet points from old Japanese manuals. But a multifaceted hobby like fortune telling that opens up so many narrative and aesthetic possibilities is obviously very different from having a favorite food. It's ALWAYS been a part of her story, not just a random fact, and there's no reason why the fortune telling can't be elevated to something more.

And, hell, even if it wasn't an established character trait, there's nothing inherently wrong with injecting new ideas into a character. One of the best Amy stories in recent years, the Free Comic Book Day special "Amy's New Hobby" written by Gale Galligan, came up with the idea that Amy's secretly been drawing little comics about her and her friends. Is this based on Lore? No. But it's cute, and helps tell the story of a younger Amy who's still coming out of her shell as both a hero and a friend.

Certain fans are also looking at Amy's Frontiers moveset and using it as evidence that once again the Vile American Contributors like Ian are CORRUPTING Sonic Team's perfect vision of Sonic with their misinterpretations. And like. Come on. Ian does not control the gameplay. He's a freelance writer. The tarot stuff is clearly something that Sonic Team likes if they made it the basis of Amy's new moveset - and, you know, if they keep approving comics and animations about Amy's fortune telling. None of this gets made without their blessing, and lord knows how much they can micromanage shit and shoot down ideas over the most minor of details.

Like, yeah, Amy's fortune telling was probably conceived less as a sign that she Knows Magic and more as a pretty mundane hobby for a lovesick young Japanese girl to have. But you're gonna sit there and tell me that using Amy's tarot cards for more than that could only be the result of a cultural misunderstanding? That nobody in Japan uses tarot card theming and aesthetics (or the general idea of magical cards) for the cool factor? Stardust Crusaders? Persona? The Astrologian class in FFXIV? Cardcaptor Sakura?? Hello??? Do you think Capcom put Gambit in Marvel vs. Capcom ironically because they thought using magic to throw cards at people was stupid? There's tons of precedent for this! It's nothing like Knuckles throwing grapes at people, be for real.

Giving Amy a very magical girl-esque moveset also just makes a lot of sense. For decades her hammer attacks have literally made sparkly heart shapes appear around her. Leaning into both that and her tarot cards in her new moveset makes a lot of sense to me.

But, admittedly... I do think it's very odd that her hammer is treated as a secondary element here, rather than having her primarily use her hammer and adding the cards for extra flair. If hitting the attack button made her swing her hammer instead of throwing cards, I'm not sure we'd even be having this discussion right now.

But the tarot-cycle and Amy riding her hammer like a witch's broom are fucking SICK and I will not concede on this point

The thing is, this whole fortune card discourse is but a small piece of a bigger problem. Amy's been a character who needed some work for ages, but there's basically nothing you can do with her without pissing SOMEONE off.

Years of stories where Amy's crush was her primary motivator and Sonic went "Ew, cooties!" have lead many casual fans to believe that being Sonic's obsessive fangirl is Amy's entire personality. At best people might call her Sonic's Minnie Mouse. This isn't just a matter of Amy having haters within the fandom - venture outside of that bubble and you'll realize that this is how MOST video game playing people seem to see her to this day. I don't feel like this is a fair assessment of the character, but this idea didn't come from nowhere. No matter how much good deeply entrenched Sonic fans may see in their old dynamic where Amy perpetually chases Sonic, this is a very real problem that Sonic Team has to contend with for their leading girl. Of course all those games where the way-past-cool protagonist thought Amy was annoyingly clingy and tried to get away from her made people think less of her.

If new stories were to go back to emphasizing Amy's crush on Sonic a little more, they'd probably be taken as confirmation that Amy's just the girl with a crush on Sonic and that this is her entire personality. Conversely, when the crush is played down, you piss off the hardcore SonAmy fans who don't seem to understand that they're Charlie Brown and Sega is Lucy holding the football. You can't win.

And so here we are. In the absence of what was once her defining trait, now reduced to an occasional blush or wink in Sonic's direction, new stories are trying to mine Amy's past for additional material to work with. Having been a thing fans wanted to see for years, right now we're getting a lot of tarot, but we're also getting reminders of her compassionate nature and her desire to go out of her way to help the little guy. This is an ongoing process. I continue to hope that her bubbly, exuberant demeanor can shine more in future stories. Now, I also hope that the tarot stuff gets balanced out a little better with other traits of hers. But I don't want it to go away. I think it's fun.

This course correcting is far from exclusive to Amy. Knuckles is getting stories that remind us that he's a competent fighter, an experienced treasure hunter, and even a self-taught archaeologist after years of him being perceived as either the dumb one or just the guy who stands in front of the Master Emerald all day. And Tails has been getting some stories reminding folks that he's a capable hero in his own right and not just Sonic's timid kid sidekick.

But no supporting character will ever compete with the sheer number of new ideas Sega has tried with Sonic himself. Like Amy, his Frontiers moveset has also given him half a dozen new superpowers that he never had before, from the Cyloop to air-slicing projectile attacks to his own take on Shadow Clone Jutsu and beyond. He's also been a hoverboarder, a swordsman, a time traveler, an Olympic athlete, a racecar driver, cursed with a Flame of Judgment, imbued with alien power, a fucking Werehog with stretchy powers, and on and on and on.

If Sonic can do all that, Amy can try out using a tarot-cycle.

Anyway TL;DR the REAL problem with Amy's current characterization... is where the FUCK is Amy's bestie, Honey the Cat???????

#tkp post

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christiansorrell · 6 months

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TTRPG Read-Through: Patchwork World

Here is a read-through I did last year (originally posted on Twitter) of one of the most unique PbtA games I've ever read: Patchwork World by Aaron King! - Christian

Credits up first. I know a lot of these folks and they are really cool! Excited to dig into this. I've heard good things, and it's been a while since I've read or played any Powered by the Apocalypse.

This is a cool, strong set up for me. I really like settings that ask characters to face a changing world and either take up change themselves or work to restore the old way of things. It's a headspace I find myself in a lot IRL these days so it's fun to explore.

I'm interested to see how the no stats, no playbooks angle of this game works, considering playbooks are typically such a staple of PbtA games.

Standard three-tired success, mixed success, fail forward resolution for rolls here and questions on the moves determine your bonus to the roll. Easy peasy. +2 is the max bonus.

Other types of rolls are described here. Interested to see how they come into play. I also love clocks and use them in pretty much every game I run so it's nice to see those laid out here too.

We just love a lil guy, don't we folks?

A good chunk of the opening here is spent on laying out a lot of solid foundations of roleplaying generally. It feels like a book (so far) that would work for entirely new players. It doesn't feel essential for me, but I never mind a game that supports varied experience levels.

Character creation is wide open, especially since there aren't playbooks and the text stresses that character creation is very much worldbuilding because of this. Fate-like concepts and tags are in here too which are things I generally enjoy. I like the Drawback mechanic.

Moves are in the playback I set in the other room so I'm gonna go grab those. You get two chosen moves and everyone has access to a number of default moves. You've got three other life/XP things to keep track of too. I'm especially interested in Hex.

There are a lot of moves! They seem quite varied and often very weird, fitting well with the titular patchwork world. You can have a duck's slick soul to dodge more easily or a magical space suit or speak to birds or be good at cartography. Overwhelming, but in an exciting way.

You also choose a community as a party. While PCs all have their original homelands (before the end of the old worlds), you know have a community that gets its own little sheet. This is a cool reshaping of the Gangs from Blades. I also like how the community can change over time.

Coming back to a PbtA game after months of more OSR-minded stuff, I think a lot of what these games contain are things that experienced players would say you could just do in any game at any time that it makes sense in the story, but I do find value in stating what's possible.

Esp since many players come to games with artificial limits on their options (whether that's from video games, more traditional RPGs, etc.). I just think good GMing here requires making sure that the players don't limit themselves just to the bevy of explicit options either.

GM moves (mostly to guide the response to failed rolls). I really think the community aspect of this set up is one of the biggest appeals to me so far. That and the wild list of moves, which I'm sure makes for amazing parties of characters.

I always feel like it's never something I should be in my own writing (for some probably unnecessary reason), but I enjoy the first-person, casual writing style throughout the book. Makes for a very chill read.

Good to see this game employs the Branson Reese style of NPC naming.

Stress acts as a single catch-all health and challenge rating for NPCs. Ideally, I'd hope this would help lead to the PCs approaching encounters with more than just violence.

Sections like this are what I'm referring to when I say this book feels very friendly to new players. It's got little anecdotes and thoughts like this throughout.

Look, it's been a while since I've seen A Christmas Story but... it didn't have ghosts in it right?

There's a sample adventure in the back (which I'll skip for this read-through) plus loads of random tables. Some wonderfully bizarre stuff in the characters and faction tables. Really gives you a good idea for how gonzo you can go with the setting.

Love these two in particular

Optional rules include hard mode (which I just think is kind of funny to see in PbtA, but could be cool if you lean heavy into the post-apoc setting) and some optional moves. I like that some moves focus on romance, something I enjoy IRL but never think to focus on in games.

I was wondering why this was the sixth edition!

That's all for the book itself. Going back to the packet to dig into the things I missed. Some expected bits in here but always one or two unique options I really enjoy. Leaking hex is cool (and could have some troubling cascade effects in certain situations).

I definitely wish, at least in sitting down to read like this, that the contents of the player packet was also in the book itself. I think PbtA has this tendency of leading to loads of pages on the table, but it can make them very easy to pick up and play or to learn as you play.

That element is definitely here, but I think the vast number of wide-ranging moves and the excitement that would drum up in my player group would more than makeup for that initial overwhelming feel of "whoa, that's a lot of papers out on the table".

Overall, it's the most I've wanted to play a game in this style in a while. I like that the base setup for the world is very much up to the players to determine via the characters they make. I like that PCs here will probably feel unlike any other folks have played before.

The community aspect feels like where I'd want to center my story around, as a player. Seeing that shift and change over time feels like it would be very rewarding and would help lean into the "the old world is dead, what do we want the new world to look like?" theme I enjoy.

Because Aaron King is cool and recently hit a lot of Twitter followers, Patchwork Worlds is now Pay-what-you-want over on Itch.

I'm not sure if physical copies are readily available. For full disclosure (guess I should have said this up front), I got this copy for free from Aaron! Not for the purposes of this thread or anything, just for fun a while back.

Thanks for reading more ramblings from me! If you like to do that sort of thing, check out my newsletter - Missives from the MeatCastle. It's got writings on my work, cool stuff I've run across the web in the last month, and exclusive rpg stuff! https://meatcastle.substack.com

#indie ttrpg #ttrpg #ttrpgs #rpg #fantasy #science fiction #pbta #powered by the apocalypse #aaron king #patchworld world #sixth edition #read through

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bloodgulchblog · 3 months

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Have you seen that YouTube video where some guy reads every Halo novel back to back and then reviews them? If so what did you think

The Brian David Gilbert one? Oh yeah, all my friends showed me it when it came out. (It was honestly kind of cute seeing how many people thought of me immediately.)

Rewatching it to refresh myself because it's been a couple years and a full-novel reread for me since the last time...

youtube

High fiving BDG because the Master Chief parts of The Flood were definitely the most boring parts.

He didn't have anything to say about First Strike which I think is a shame because I think it's better than The Fall of Reach and actually has A Theme I Find Interesting.

Rightful recognition of Contact Harvest as pretty damn good.

Rightful recognition of the Forerunner Trilogy as dense oldschool-style SF with deep worldbuilding. (Also the San'Shyuum thing.)

I disagree with him about, and have significant problems with, Kilo Five. He is correct that Kilo Five actually delves into some of the dark places in Halo in a way it really needed, and I would even say that its writing is extremely engaging by Halo novel standards. However, while he does notice the obvious parallels between what ONI is doing post-war and the kind of shit the CIA has pulled again and again irl, I think he misses some of the subtext I see where it feels like it justifies some shit a liiiiittle too much if you know the author's irl politics re: the military. He also doesn't seem to notice the character assassinations (particularly of Catherine Halsey) that I and a lot of other fans see/object to in those books. I kind of gaze into the middle distance with a haunted expression at the suggestion that these are the ones to read if you don't touch any of the others just because they are, ironically, so heavy-handed and feel like they treat certain kinds of evil as inevitable in a way that actually feels way worse to me than the excuse plot offered by the earlier/lighter Halo novels. (But idk, that's me? Nobody is committing a crime if they disagree with my frenzied insane person red string diagrams about Kilo Five.)

I'd swap Pariah for Dirt in the Evolutions anthology if it were me, but I think these are solid standouts.

Broken Circle is neat but really nonessential he's not wrong.

A one-sentence review of New Blood is probably not enough space to get into how fucked up the Spartan-IV program is, but yeah. New Blood is fun if you don't find Buck's first person narration annoying. (It comes and goes for me in that one.)

BDG you're an absolute sweetheart, I think Hunters in the Dark is kind of goofy in a way I cannot in good conscience ignore if I'm gonna review it. But it really really is so much fun and I love that one a lot anyway. The "it's like Halo 3... 2" observation is solid.

High fiving him again because I also found Last Light disappointing. And it is also a me problem.

Fractures!

Hell yeah these are all good pulls from Fractures, I would say Shadow of Intent is the pick of the litter in that anthology for me. Interesting that as a Kilo Five enjoyer he didn't single out Rossbach's World, which is the last we've heard about Osman and Black Box. (Also, that one is good.) I think Oasis is worth an honorable mention because I'm an Envoy stan, and the Forerunner stories are interesting but I wouldn't go for them if you don't already have a healthy interest in the trilogy.

This tangent is so fucking funny now that we know more things:

Oh BDG, oh buddy, it's really not for the people like you and me huh. (Disclaimer: I have no idea if BDG likes the Halo tv show or not and I have no desire to dig up evidence about it.)

Also, while you're here, this is the bloodgulchblog origin story:

Smoke and Shadow is fun so it's a little sad that when he ends that sentence with "whatever," I can't actually say he's wrong to. (Sorry Rion your part of the lore just.... hasn't... touched anything that touches anything else anymore.)

ENVOY IS GOOD AND EVERYONE SHOULD CARE ABOUT IT okay okay I'm cool I'm normal, anyway. Envoy is the Halo novel that restored my faith in reading Halo novels and reminded me that authors can care and know how to do nuanced, interesting themes in this space. It's great. Everyone in this book has war refugee trauma (except the Spartans which have Spartan trauma) and that's incredible to me. Please care about Envoy if you have spare room in your heart for Halo side characters.

I am cheered to see someone indifferent to the Veta Lopis stories, but I still feel petty for feeling it.

I don't have a lot to say about Legacy of Onyx here but it's always so fun seeing someone else suffer and care.

Bad Blood, the Blood is Bad now is a fun joke but lol yeah. It does have this very vital moment where Chief and Arbiter talk, though. For the first and only time in years.

PROPS FOR NOTICING THE YA NOVELS they're actually pretty nice.

"The Master Chief is the protagonist and boy does he shoot some people" is most of how I feel about Silent Storm and Oblivion too, I know they have their fans but Troy Denning's Chief books don't do much for me personally.

Renegades hadn't had its followup Point of Light yet but yeah, Spark stuff is interesting.

I had to remember that oh yeah, there are multiple books now that didn't exist when this was made. I wonder if he read them?

OKAY I THINK THAT'S ALL I HAD TO SAY as always if y'all want specific book opinions, I might have a tag for them. Or just yell in my ask box, I'm sure I can scrounge up some thoughts.

#halo novels

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delopsia · 11 months

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hello so flowers in november. let’s discuss. because I read it for the first time like a month ago and it? changed me? I had to sit down with my lil queer self and have a tête à tête about how good that fic was. I PROCESSED, computer style. like your capacity for worldbuilding is so gorgeous and well rounded and complete and that in and of itself would have me hooked but then the nuance. the soft, horny cowboy of it all. the ROMANCE and the CREATURES and the ROUND! PIZZA!! BOXES!!!

reading that fic is like watching a rube goldberg machine with all these tiny, whimsical parts coming together in gentle little plinks and plonks to accomplish this incredibly simple task SO EFFECTIVELY and you’re just grinning and loving the whole fucking journey of it. like I feel BAD for you that you don’t get the sheer pleasure that was getting to read that work for the first time and being taken around each blind corner into this thrilling reveal that just builds Rhett and his world and his relationship and I could literally gush about it for another 2000 words and still not say all the good things I want to say!!!!!!!!

I was listening to a song in my work car today (I love you always forever, Betty who’s version. fuckin bop.) and listen I KNOW it was set in winter but every part of that song gives FiN Rhett and his person, just the adoration and the soaring feelings and the simple core of the message behind it and I got so up in my feels in the middle of the fucking city about it. because that’s what FiN has, for such a fun fantasy alternate reality bop— every narrative beat connecte to this indescribable core feeling of adoration and whimsy and magic and the good and bad that lives in all of those things, in such whole and finished way that it makes me feel A Thing. and then I hear or see or smell something that has a moment of the same Thing and among all the other wonderful things that have that whimsy and magic that immediately pop to my brain I’m like “oh man flowers in november tho”.

you have such an incredible gift for writing. thank you SO MUCH for sharing it with us!!!!!!!!

aaaaa! Thank you so so much, lovely! :D This was an absolute blast to find in my inbox, despite Tumblr briefly trying to eat it...I truly was not expecting to hear much about that story ever again since it's a few months old now.

The World for Flowers In November was so, so much fun to craft and put together; I still get excited thinking about it because Rhett's world gave me so much creative freedom 💃 But for a while there, I really thought the round pizza boxes and magical creatures were a little too far😭

I'm so thrilled that it all came together like I was hoping it would! I had entire documents and guides dedicated to getting the world to hold together properly.

Exhibit A:

But! That! Song! I've never heard it before in my life until you stopped by, but now I keep replaying it 😭 I wasn't expecting for it to fit so well?? The first time I listened to it I had to stop what I was doing and stare at a wall because, wow.

Its reminded me of a deleted scene that never got into the final cut because it didn't add much to the story at the time. Maybe I'll have to dig that out of the drafts sooner or later 💃

Thank you so much for sending this, lovely! 🌷 You've got me wanting to return to that story, now 💐

#delgato's asks #flowers in november

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finsterhund · 10 months

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My brain deciding to retreat into my research driven science autism to combat how my body has been actively shutting down and trying to die from the agony and retraumatizing it's been going through lately (thanks to subhumans that shouldn't be alive spreading their diseases all over good things on the internet) is a welcoming change in the fact that right at this moment I don't want to fucking die as bad and me having no outlet for how much I need to righteously kill people other than chewing and chewing and chewing is currently the slightest bit ignorable.

but man do I fucking hate how unfriendly academia information is online nowadays. I can't just have fun and explore scientific info anymore. I have to hope some fucking YouTuber is talking about the specific niche subtopics I'm focusing on or else find a paper if after digging through Wikipedia doesn't land me sources that aren't as fucking dry. These fuckers are so terrified of visually appealing illustrations and diagrams. Would it fucking hurt to show images when you are talking about VISUALLY DISTINCT PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES!!??? COME ON MAN. FUCK OFF. I DO NOT WANT JUST A WALL OF TEXT. We have fucking highly evolved frugivore special eyes and you fucking insufferable dipshits won't put in as many images as possible. Die.

And I'm not one who can't read anything other than grade 6 reading level layman's terms but come on can somebody have a authorial style that isn't fucking clinical ass wikipedia article? Bad enough I have to use those to start my search because the internet is a corporate nightmare but then any real fucking source I find talks like that too. Maybe I don't want to have to exclusively read research papers all the time. Bro why in the fuck does society hate education and knowledge. Unless you pay for it of course 🙄

The internet is supposed to be a big fucking library but it's all just spam and ads and shitheads and stupid fucking garbage. Andy want go library Andy want go library screaming crying throwing up

The fact that you have to like, actually do the damn research yourself because it's presented in such a currently inaccessible way.

I mean it's not like I'd just be able to go into a regular ass library because if I'm lucky there's like 1 relevant book and there's only 1 chapter that's relevant in that one book.

You stupid bastards shouldn't make it so that you have to owe some shitheads money for life as punishment for the crime of getting more education.

What do you mean I can't just get more science class for free I am going to fucking kill you and set everyone on fire. Life would be so much fucking better if I could just have an adult tell me more and more and more and more biology and astronomy and paleontologically and shit until I fucking throw up. Instead I have to fucking dig through garbage.

All of which doesn't really reflect on the absurd stupidity how this was only first brought on today by what essentially equates to me metaphorically chasing after a fictional animal and screaming, demanding to know what its skull looks like.

Because the fucking encyclopedic worldbuilding brainrot cannot be repressed. Because fucking of course it can't. Why can shitheads churn out awful fucking art but then my life sucks so bad that all I can do is make an encyclopedia related to the art I want to create. Everything I love and care about is dead or worse.

#text post #negative

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stennnn06 · 2 years

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Hi there! I just want to say thanks so much for your comments on my Kate/Yelena fic "With the lights out, it's less dangerous". I've been a huge fan of your writing since supercorp and subsequently Sam Arias/Andrea Rojo (I mean just genius, those two are 🔥) . Do you have any tips for new writers? Or any go to websites/workshops?

Thanks!

aw hi!!! this is so nice - i love that you followed me on my reignjas journey haha, they really are god tier, aren't they?

and you're so welcome. i really enjoyed your fic and i hope you write more for kate/yelena for SURE!!!

tips for new writers -

well #1 is have so much fun with it - write ALL the things! even if it seems stupid. i have so many notebooks from over the years and they're all filled with total nonsense -- half baked ideas, story plots, random scenes that fit nowhere, character charts, etc. but it also makes me super happy. i have a book of prompts (and i also follow a few on tumblr - if you search the #writeblr tag or look for creative writing prompts you can find so many) and i use those to inspire stories, or sometimes just to warm up/get back into writing if its been a minute

write fanfic! and use it to practice! sometimes ill write fanfic to practice something - descriptive writing, dialogue, pacing, POV... there's usually always a goal. fanfic is an easy way bc a lot of the worldbuilding/character work is done, so you can focus on other things. (although, lately, kate/yelena - that's PURELY for fun. also acceptable!)... basically just keep writing as often as you can.

i follow a few blogs on here that give out writing advice (i really like heywriters, they also reblog a lot of resources)... it's helpful for editing and reviewing pieces and just general writing questions.

chat with other writers! its fun hearing about what other people do and their process and how they think about things. its also really fun to bounce ideas off of other people too.

and read! read a lot. reading is my favorite way to think about writing - i like seeing other authors and their styles, i like learning new words and new ways to present information... it adds another layer to the story. read books, comics, fanfic - all of it.

writers digest also has a lot of workshops and conferences and writing challenges on their website. i haven't had time to really dig into that, but i do have a goal to maybe get more serious about it soon :)

#hope this is helpful!#thanks so much for reaching out!!! and i look forward to reading more of your stuff!

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laughingpinecone · 3 years

Text

ToT letter 2021

I am laughingpineapple on AO3

Hello dear author! I hope you’ll have fun with our match. Feel free to draw from general or fandom-specific likes, past letters, and/or follow your heart.

Art likes: characters doing something, even something very simple, illustrating a moment rather than abstractly posing. I also enjoy seeing them wear different clothes, getting a feel of what their fashion sense is like beyond their canon outfit(s). Or dressing them up for some outlandish AU!

Likes: worldbuilding, slice of life (especially if the event the fic focuses on is made up but canon-specific), missing moments, 5+1 and similar formats, bonding and emotional support/intimacy, physical intimacy, lingering touches, loyalty, casefic, surrealism, magical realism, established relationships, future fic, hurt/comfort or just comfort from the ample canon hurt, throwing characters into non-canon environments, banter, functional relationships between dysfunctional individuals, unexplained mysteries, bittersweet moods, journal/epistolary fic, dreams and memories and identities, canon-adjacent tropey plots, outsider POV, UST, resolved UST, exploration of secondary bits of canon, leaning on the uniqueness of the canon setting/mood, found families, characters reuniting after a long and/or harrowing time, friends-to-lovers, road trips, maps, mutual pining, cuddling, wintry moods, the feeling of flannel and other fabrics, ridiculous concepts played straight, sensory details, sickfic, places being haunted, people being haunted, the mystery of the woods, small hopes in bleak worlds, electricity, places that don’t quite add up, mismatched memories, caves and deep places, distant city lights at night, emphasis on non-human traits of non-human characters (gen-wise, but also a hearty yes xeno for applicable ships), emphasis on inhuman traits of characters who were human once and have sort of shed it all behind

DNW: non-canonical rape, non-canonical children, focus on children, unrequested ships (background established canon couples are okay, mentions of parents are okay!), canon retellings

All requests are for both fic and art!

Death Crown: Death, trick

(I haven't played the DLC yet so, alas, no demons, or no spoilers for the demons, at least) I am absolutely charmed by the overall mood of this game and would like to see something more in that vein! Anything! Got more sacred (or unholy?) geometrical architecture for Death to interact with, maybe in greater detail than just wrecking it? What else feels like a contemporary take on a Bosch painting? Can Death get lost?

Ghost Trick: Jowd, Cabanela, trick, treat

Anything focused on Cabanela being an unstoppable force (confident, untiring, sparkling, stubborn, dexterous, loyal to the bitter end, legs) and/or Jowd being an immovable object (sarcastic, strong, depressed, self-deprecating but knowing he's hot stuff, also stubborn, clever but an emotional dumbass, round). Figuring out stuff? Something in the new timeline is linked to the old timeline? Coat? Dancing? Scarves? Halloween costumes?

I like Cabanela/Jowd and Cabanela/Alma/Jowd and Cabanela/Alma in scenarios where Jowd isn't around and Alma/Jowd in general (REALLY like all these, okay. like this is the one request where I'd love the most self-indulgent shippy takes as well), and dig Lynne/Memry. Yomiel/fianSissel and Emma/JM also cool!

Hylics: any, trick, treat

(I have only played the first game so far so please no overt spoilers for Hylics 2. Feel free to include stuff from it but... stealthily, I guess?) This is an "anything that feels somewhat like canon, please" sort of request! Love the mood, love the cast, love the little added details in their menu screen. Those can be prompts? Or the oddball stats? How do ToT's trick and treat freeforms apply to Hylics' overall... hylicsness, what would those guys think constitutes a "creepy" moment or a "fluffy" one?

Not into ships for this one, however I WILL say that Dedusmuln has all the proverbial curves in the right places. mostly their face.

Kentucky Route Zero: Weaver

Math, debt, the liminal state of almost being a ghost, seeing the world with a strange clarity... just anything Weaver, please! How'd she make her way to the town? What was it like for her to be working on Xanadu for a time? What about the community broadcast! Does she have an opinion on Carrington's oeuvre? You know... things... stuff. Weaver things. and stuff.

I love the whole cast and Weaver... wove... her story through most of them so feel free to bring in whomever. Not interested in ships here though.

Paradise Killer: Lady Love Dies, trick

A post-canon glimpse of life on '''''perfect''''' 25? That's not QUITE enough class consciousness to make the whole thing work, you guys. What does 'normal' life feel like to LD now? After following Henry's case and talking to Shinji so much, can she see that it's doomed to fail again, and then what? What IS Island 25 like, anyway? (what comes after Island 25, even?)

I liked the choice of canon romances - if it has to be just one I'd prefer it to be Crimson, but I'd also be interested in seeing what a V or triad with Doom Jazz would look like. They're all so chill about stuff

Pyre: Volfred, trick, treat

Pragmatic idealist, charismatic and bad at people, pacifist, activist, physiologically incapable of shutting up for a hot second, what's there not to love... I am very into either of the following: C. Volfred Sandalwood has a fantastic day; C. Volfred Sandalwood has a terrible no good day. Everything is great! Pre-exile antiestablishmentarian antics, maybe with Bertrude? Political gambits? The very physical dangers of the Downside which may or may not catch a scholar by surprise (who saves him?)? Tree problems? Meeting Oralech for the first time and Volfred thinks he himself is hot stuff but out of the two, Oralech is clearly the VIP? Feeling like he should live up to Lu Sclorian's legacy but he feels much closer to other Scribes (and what does Lu have to say about it, one way or another?)? The thrilling intimacy of Reading? The thrilling intimacy of lowercase reading also, maybe reading old manuscripts found in the Downside?

I very much ship him with Tariq and/or Oralech. The only canon ship I like is Hedwyn/Fikani. I also like Soliam/Gol, Bertrude/Pamitha and Celeste/Jodariel. Love all the Nightwings + Dalbert (+Deluge...?); love to dunk on Manley, Brighton and Lendel (I don't enjoy flat-out bashing, more like... I enjoy the way they are portrayed as horrible gremlins in canon and if they turn up in fic I'm not interested in more positive portrayals)

Signs of the Sojourner: Rhea, Elias, trick, treat

Once again pretty much an "anything in the style of canon" request. I love this setting, its themes and all the little lives that fill it. I am interested in a wide range of postcanon scenarios and love the whole cast - does Rhea come back to $town any number of years down the line and find $character? How'd their storyline end up in the medium-long term? What the hell is up with the Stranger (seriously, three runs and I never managed to speak with them, I have no idea)? What's life like for Elias back home, or in a new home if they can't keep the store, or if Rhea landed the Oscar ending or whatever (just, please, not dead Rhea. I love that ending but can't stand to consider what it'd do to Elias)? Or does he join the caravan just once? Who did Rhea grow to really like and can't wait to see every time? Any ghost stories or creepy encounters on the caravan's route? Does Thunder help?

I'm neutral on ships here - good with Rhea&Elias, good with background Rhea/Elias but I wouldn't like a romantic focus.

Totally Normal Wizard Apprentice: apprentice, wizard, master, trick, treat

(conflict of interest disclaimer, I illustrated this but didn't write nor nominate it) What awaits the apprentice outside the wizard's tower? It sounds like a pretty wild moon out there, I loved all the worldbuilding hints of the bigger setting. Does the wizard keep track of the apprentice, with her telescope or otherwise, and how does she take care of her ruined parlor? Was this all some sort of 5d chess on the master's part, and if so to what end? And what kind of otherworldly patience does this man possess, anyway, to handle the apprentice on a daily basis?

Twin Peaks: Margaret, Diane, Lucy, Tammy, trick, treat

(bass-boosted ethereal whooshing) For tricks, I would like to see any of these characters face the woods, the mystery of the woods, and/or a new symbol of your liking. Or: Margaret in the city, Diane and the moon, Lucy and the color blue, Tammy incognito.

For treats, a happy meeting. I love the whole cast and I'm always thrilled by gonzo "&" pairings, bring in whomever! Coffee and pie? The Bookhouse Boys? A kinder aspect of the woods?

Fandom-specific notes: love s3, love the books too. I like Lucy/Andy, Margaret/Sam fwiw, and rarepairs Tammy/Cynthia and Diane/Constance. Please no Fireman's-house-is-the-white-lodge, no Twin Perfect, no Judy-was-destroyed (nor is destroyable).

Arcade Spirits: Percy, Teo, treat

More than anything, I love the sense of group and camaraderie among the arcade's staff and regulars, and I'd love to see some more of it. I picked Percy and Teo 'cause they're my faves but anyone you may want to add, up to and including Sue, is very very welcome. Is there any aspect of gaming that feels like it could be adapted to this strange world of contemporary arcades? Cosplay shenanigans for everyone courtesy of Ashley? Any other activity that could show how Percy and/or Teo get along with the others, like they were all forming little groups during the beach chapter? It's such a feel-good canon, any feel-good situation would be great!

My Ari is with Percy but I'm not really interested in shipping here. All sorts of friendships though!

#letter

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hawkland · 3 years

Text

Dear Fandom5k Author

My AO3 account (sidewinder)

Hello and thank you for writing for me! I’m excited to give this exchange a try for the first time and cannot wait to read what you can come up with for one of my requests. Please note I’d love any of them equally, no matter if I have more prompt ideas for one or the other. Some I seriously would love just about anything about since they are so rare, others I have more specific requests to scratch itches I haven’t seen written before (or that much.)

General Likes:

Soumates with a twist. I love soulmate/soulbond AUs, as long as it’s just not a shortcut to happily-ever, no-conflict fluff. I want there to be some difficulties or angst involved. For instance, I’d love seeing any fusion/inspired-by fics based off the concept of the AMC Soumates series - where there’s a newly-developed scientific test a person can choose to take to find their soulmate (if the other person out there has also taken the test). That way it’s a choice to find out or not. Would an already established couple want to take the test to find out if they’re really “meant” to be together or not? What if they find out other people are their “soulmates”? What about the possibility of platonic soulmates vs romantic? Discussions for the future if/when one partner dies before the other? I’d love to see these questions played out with one of my fave ships in either a happy or somewhat angsty/dark way.

Vacation/travel stories. Being unable to travel this past year+ thanks to covid-19 has me desperate to explore and live vicariously through my favorite characters! So I’d love a story involving travel to somewhere new (to them). It could be a romantic getaway/honeymoon trip to somewhere special - and I love it when an author “takes me” to a favorite city/place of their own. Or two friends just going on an escapade together, maybe one sensing the other needs some time away from a stressful situation or workplace.

Smutty likes: I love extended kissing scenes, frottage, light restraint play, sharing-one-bed-for-~reasons~-ooops-how-did-we-wake-up-cuddling, bathing/caretaking an injured partner-turns-erotic, desperate/reunion sex.

Canon-divergent AUs - I’m always good with fix-its, shifts in canon that only change one thing and see what happens next or instead.

Do Not Wants:

A/B/O dynamics, mating heats. (I do like Supernatural fics that explore Castiel and the angels having bird-like behaviors and instincts, however.)

animal abuse/death

anything related to pregnancy/childbirth/kidfic (except for Jack in SPN)

formalized BDSM relationships

scat/watersports

unrequested alternative-universe scenarios such as high school/mundane/genderswap/coffee shop/fantasy/etc. There are a few ships/groups where I would enjoy specific AUs, and those are outlined below.

Completely sad endings/permanent character death or injury that isn’t part of canon

Rape/non-con between requested characters. Dubious consent is fine in situations like magic spells/possession/fuck-or-die, however.

Supernatural

AU - Canon Divergence, Character Development, Established Relationship, Getting Together, Fix-it fic, Interpersonal Drama, Smut, Angst, Canon-Style Plot - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery/Procedural, Slice of Life, Worldbuilding, Horror

In general for SPN, I love canon-divergence AUs at pretty much any point in time (especially as they kept having so many dumb reasons in canon to keep Dean & Cas apart just when one or the other seriously needed support or TLC!) I’m okay with post-series Heaven fics as well as canon fix-its/completely ignoring the finale, and I like exploring both human!Cas as endgame or Cas keeping/getting his full angelic grace back (which is a slight preference to me, as he repeatedly seemed to genuinely value/want to be an angel? But exploring all possibilities in fic is cool for me.)

I’m a sucker for Castiel Whump/hurt!Cas in general, so long as the author remembers Cas is a bad ass and not just a baby in a trenchcoat. If he’s going to suffer, I want him to suffer stoically until he just cannot keep up the facade any longer.

SPN-specific DNWs: mentions/implications of Wincest, past or present; extreme bashing/characterization of John and Mary Winchester, or Jimmy Nowak, as homophobic.

Group: Castiel/Dean Winchester Group: Castiel/Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester

Give me all the finale fix-it fics - no I’m still not over it, I’m still happy to read any new twist on how Cas got out of the Empty and got back together with Dean (and Sam). If Dean still dies early/ends up in Heaven, I’d like a story that explores what happens when one gets bored of peace-and-happiness-ever-after. (Yes, I’m a big fan of The Good Place and as such it makes me wonder if eternity with no conflict and everything you could ever want would just melt your brain and identity after a few millennia.) So what then?

I’m also stealing a Tumblr rant as a prompt I’d love to read, if you want to get into some good dirty smut:

ive had it up to here with fictional gays being like “i love you and if all i can ever have is that knowledge it’s enough for me” we need more “i have been struck down by horny insanity and i beg you to fuck me once. i’ve had three smirnoff ices and i’m gonna be crazy now. we can pretend it didn’t happen i don’t give a shit just gimme daddy’s blunt instrument” it’s more realistic [x]

Um so yeah. I’d love an au where, anywhere along the line when it’s been their/someone’s/the universe’s life on the life, Cas takes the initiative decides they’re gonna have crazy sex even if it’s just once before the end of the world/we die. But then, oops, we’ve survived, now we have to deal with it. ...Please?

For something different, maybe more romantic/fluffy, I’d really love a vacation/getaway story here, since they never really got anything like that of substance on the show. I want to see Cas take Dean somewhere beautiful and amazing in the world he’s never gotten to see before. Show him there’s more than just greasy diners and the landscape of America to enjoy and experience. If you want, they could stumble on a case/haunting/monster from another part of the world while they’re at it...but I just really want to see Dean having some mind-opening and expanding experiences beyond what’s he’s known and seen so far in life.

In specific with Cas/Dean + Sam, I love another tumblr idea I saw recently where Sam totally keeps bringing up the idea of “Sastiel” as a fun joke between him and Cas, and Cas plays along, and it drives Dean up the wall. Cas has to just keep re-assuring Dean that no, he doesn’t see Sam that way...but why does it bother Dean so much? A.k.a. Dean has to finally own up to the fact that it bothers him because he wants Cas to feel that way about him.

Castiel (Supernatural)

I just love Cas, period, end of story, he’s my One True Character of SPN. I love any stories that try to explore him more fully—be it his relationships in the past with other angels and being a BAMF commander/warrior of Heaven, or what specifically it is that keeps him so tied to the Winchesters. I love stories that feature his true-form in some fashion or try to dig into the alien/different nature of angels vs. humans.

Also, another Tumblr-musing-turned-prompt (I lost who posted it, sorry!) I'd love to see explored in a canon divergence fic focused on Cas. Specifically:

"I would have loved an arc for Cas (after he got his grace back) where he wanted to help people, like he was helped. Spending time in soup kitchens or healing people, and through that developing a sense of self purpose, leading to his grace replenishing unexpectedly. Sort of fulfilling the traditional angel role (as we know it nowadays) by replacing his faith in heaven/dean with faith in himself, to redefine himself as a protector of humanity instead of heaven's soldier."

Group: Castiel/Dean Winchester & Jimmy Novak Group: Castiel & Jimmy Novak

We know Cas carried a lot of guilt for what happened to Jimmy and his whole family. So I'm interested in a post-finale, canon-compliant (I guess?) fic where Cas tries to reconcile things with Jimmy in Heaven. Maybe Jimmy & Amelia were one of his first "projects" or test cases in trying to build a new and better Heaven with Jack? (And it's what he was so busy with while Dean was still alive.) Or, is it weird in Heaven with Cas and Jimmy looking so similar? Does Cas still fight doubts as to whether Dean really loves him, or just desires this body/form that isn’t his own?

Otherwise, I've been thinking about Endverse!Cas, who had lost his grace/powers as the angels have all left and abandoned humankind. What happened to/where is Jimmy in all of that? (If we go by the canon that Jimmy was not killed, nor went to Heaven, until the end of Season 5, when Lucifer blew up that vessel and Cas was resurrected by Chuck.) Are they now two "mortal men"/souls trapped sharing one body? Is that why Cas is so messed up/always seeking an escape through drugs and sex? (Besides of course Dean having changed so much.) This is one prompt where I don’t mind a very dark/not-so-happily-ever-after ending.

The Police

Angst, Character Development, Established Relationship, Getting Together, Humor, Interpersonal Drama, Smut

Group: Sting/Stewart Copeland

Yeah I’ll always request these two together even though I know it’s a long shot to find anyone else as obsessed about them as I am. Really anything at all whatsoever would make me happy for this ship: Reunion Tour-era fic, early punk days before they grew successful, soulmate AUs...

I’d also love a spooky story where they’re on tour/on the road somewhere and end up in a haunted hotel. Or their tour bus/van breaks down in the middle of nowhere and they have to seek shelter in an abandoned house or farm or something...and supernatural weirdness ends up affecting them or bringing them together.

If you want to go the crack route: it wasn’t enough for Miles to take them all around the world to tour in “exotic” locations back in the day. He’s arranged for them now to go on the ultimate tour...of outer space and alien worlds.

Crossover Fandom

Action/Adventure, Character Development, Interpersonal Drama, Angst, Canon-Style Plot - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery/Procedural

Group: Abe Morgan (Forever TV) & John Munch (L&O: SVU)

I’ve had a long running headcanon that these two could have been friends back in their respective 60s/early 70s hippie days. I’d love either a story set back then, “pre-canon”, or them running into each other in NYC later in life. Munch ending up in Abe’s antique shop, for instance, while on an investigation?

Group: Dean Winchester (Supernatural) & Ezekiel Stone (Brimstone) Group: Castiel (Supernatural) & Ezekiel Stone (Brimstone)

I’m fascinated by the idea of crossing over these two canons. Even if there’s some conflict in their approach to Hell/Lucifer/demons, there’s still a lot in common. Dean & Ezekiel having both put in their time in Hell and being demon hunters, for instance, and their complicated relationships with (fallen) angels. I’d love to see them bonding over their experiences (Maybe they even meet in Hell? Time DOES work differently there…) Maybe somehow after Ezekiel completed his mission for the Devil, he did get his second chance at “life on Earth”…but the devil’s trick is that it’s not HIS Earth, it’s in a different dimension (Supernatural’s). I’m also curious how Ezekiel might respond to Castiel as an angel–perhaps he mistakes Cas for a demon at first, with his powers, but then they realize they are in fact hunting the same demon? Cas is stuck in an alternative dimension and recognizes Ezekiel as a similar soul to Dean’s, and seeks out his help?

Basically I’d love some kind of casefic/demon hunt here, with the characters bonding over their shared/similar past traumas, taking care of each other when/if injured on a hunt, and/or perhaps helping them sort out their complicated feelings for another (ie, background Cas/Dean and/or Zeke/the Devil are TOTALLY welcome here, as I ship both of those ships.)

Law & Order: SVU

Group: John Munch/Odafin "Fin" Tutuola

Character Development, Established Relationship, Humor, Getting Together, Interpersonal Drama, Canon-Style Plot - Freeform, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery/Procedural, Slice of Life, AU-Genre shift

Munch/Fin is one of my eternal OTPs so I’m always happy to see something new featuring them! I’m always good for procedural/case-fics. And this is one request where I’d love to read some AU-Genre or setting shift, reimagining the two in some other situations besides police work. I’ve always loved the idea of John hosting a conspiracy/weird news radio show or podcast, and Fin as someone completely skeptical but who gets wrapped up in one of John’s mysteries. Or John as the owner of a bar somewhere that Fin is one of his regulars, and over time their friendship develops/deepens into something more.

Supernatural RPF

Misha Collins/Jensen Ackles Established Relationship, Getting Together, Smut, Fluff, Slice of Life, Humor

It’s odd for me to be into an actor RPF fandom (I usually only fall for music/band-related ones), but what can I say...these two just make it almost impossible not to see the possibilities!

I was thinking I’d love something set post-Supernatural...their first time seeing each other again after a long time apart? (What with the show ending, covid, Misha’s surgery, etc etc.) Could be at a convention or maybe they get to go off on a getaway together somewhere private/romantic and it’s...kind of tense and maybe nervous/angsty at first? Like with doubts about whether they can/should go back to the way things were before.

Or: putting tin-hatty speculation about the “secret/real identity” of Alma Perpetua aside, I love their poetry and I’d love any “Cockles” fic using one of their poems as inspiration.

#fandom5k #dear author #exchange letter

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soysaucednd · 5 years

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Traveling in D&D: How TF do you do it?

Hey, GM here! Have you ever had trouble figuring out what to do with a party of adventurers to get them from point A to point B? This post is for you. I will provide my strategies for getting players from one place to the next, along with links to where I learned some of them and my general thoughts on the matter.

Travel is an interesting problem in Dungeons and Dragons. It has to happen pretty much until the party has gotten to the point where they can use magical teleportation, but it can quickly feel formulaic and boring if handled incorrectly, and I know I have been at fault for making travel insufferable many times as a DM. In a campaign I am running, the party is about to embark on a 500 mile journey to a far-off city, so I wanted to see what I could think of for making the sessions about the journey rather than the destination.

One way I am thinking of trying to make travel more interesting is to use it as an opportunity to solidify and showcase the worldbuilding I as a DM have spent hours upon hours working on. Letting them discover areas that are of historical and mythological significance. For example, in my campaign there is a legend of a war that was won by a King Arthur like figure from the nation’s past that unified the country, and one of my towns is said to be where he fought a great beast and his shield shattered to pieces. Adventurers have tried to find the pieces, believing that the shield held great magical power. Or, I have a town where my big bad was raised that has information about her backstory if the party digs deep enough there. Spend some time figuring out what interesting pieces of lore you can tie to locations on your adventure

Secondly, I want to give my players to feel like travel is a real part of the game rather than an intermission.

In my experience there are two types of travel in Dungeons and Dragons: on the road, and wilderness. I’ll start with On the Road.

Things I count as on the road traveling are moving from one town to another on a main road, moving within a town itself, and traveling through areas where they have accurate maps, even if it is a wilderness area. Generally, what ties these together is that they are along a clear path towards a clear goal.

Generally, if I am running travel on the main road of a kingdom, I will have already made a basic map of my world, with the significant towns and the main roadways and some information about each, along with a d20 table with a few encounters that is balanced in a way that matches how dangerous you want this path to be. This way, if the players are traveling from one place to another place far away (such as from a provincial town they’ve just liberated from bandits to the capital city of the realm), I can add actual settings in between as they pass by other towns and cities on the way. Instead of filling the road with combat encounters, I can usually assume that it is fairly safe beyond possibly a few highwaymen, and use the golden rule of “skip the boring parts.” They arrive in the new town they’ve never seen, there are some plot hooks, new NPCs, and mysteries to be solved, or they can press on. This same basic rule applies to travel within cities.

For on the road travel in a wilderness setting, I usually add more plot hooks like the goblin attack from Lost Mines of Phandelver onto the path rather than have towns and cities on the way. Players can discover a mini-adventure on their way, that way they feel like they are discovering things rather than being stopped and diverted from their goals by force.

Next is Wilderness Travel. This type of travel is aimless and simply for discovering areas they do not know about. It is often far more dangerous, and I like to prepare different encounters based on the dangers that might be in the environment the players have found. These can range from encounters the party will have little trouble with to encounters designed to force the players to run away.

Encounters can, of course, mean any number of things. Traps left by hunters, beasts to battle, areas to explore, temples to old gods, you name it. I generally err on the side of showing them a path to follow and letting them choose whether to bite, which helps the world feel more real and reinforces the idea that the players are not the center of the universe. In my games, I try to make the players feel as though they are acting upon a world that isn’t shaped by their actions until they pass around 15th level. For instance, if the party is ambushed by a large group of bandits, they feel like they are important, that the bandits have sent their entire encampment to kill them. If the party instead fights maybe three bandits and through that they find a path that leads to the encampment where 15 more are camping, they feel more like they are discovering the inner workings of their environment rather than being acted upon by them. They are simply passers-by in a world with its own culture and its own systems of life that don’t necessarily care about the heroes.

To me, wilderness travel is an opportunity to remind your heroes that the world is a big and scary place, and that they are not all powerful. In my experience, wilderness travel is a great opportunity for vivid descriptions and attempts to disorient or unsettle your party using the environment. Missteps or bad survival rolls can and should remind the players that they are mortal. I don’t usually like to track food and water, but this is an opportunity to explore how the party will react to food and water supplies dwindling, or attempts by creatures to steal their food during the night. Encountering and battling dangerous beasts is only one way to remind the players that the world is not tamed by their existence, and will crush them if given the chance.

The other main strategy I have seen for wilderness travel is the concept of skill challenges (thank you to Matthew Colville on youtube for this idea). I have yet to try this in a game, but his concept is to have each player justify the use of one of their skills (ex: a ranger rolling survival checks to forage for food) over the course of the journey. Then, depending on the length of the journey, you have them roll a specific number of skill checks and track the successes and failures based on a DC you determine. Based on the number of failures among the group, you decide on an encounter for them, harder for each failure. As I said, I have not used this method, but it is something I want to try the next time my party heads into the wilderness to search for adventure.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvQ2JgZIjVI) Here is a link to Matt’s video on making travel interesting, I would highly recommend watching it and his other videos.

A final note, don’t be afraid to simply say “you get there” if your party goes off in a direction you haven’t planned for. It’s better to skip to the next section where you have content than to scramble to create a whole world for them to travel through. Not all sections of your adventure should have Lord of the Rings style epic escapades, but if you have the time to prepare and write down a mini-adventure on the open road, I would highly recommend it.

TL;DR

ON THE ROAD

Plan out the path that the players are taking. Know what they might encounter on the way.

Make d20 tables for encounter hooks that scale to how dangerous you want your environment to be.

Emphasize hooks over encounters. Let the players see something they can explore and decide whether to bite on it rather than stopping the adventure dead for a moment to have combat for the sake of something to do. (Remember the goblin ambush at the beginning of The Lost Mines of Phandelver?)

For long journeys, have them discover towns and cities on the way where mysteries and adventures are available for them to follow.

Weave your worldbuilding into the journey. What important historical events might be tied to your locations? Are there any myths that might be centered around a specific locale?

WILDERNESS

Make d20 tables that include a wide range of difficulty for encounter hooks.

Remind the players they are insignificant compared to the environment, and the world would keep going without them.

Make some encounters that are designed for the players to run away from. They are not the mythical heroes of old, and some things can and will kill them.

Again, weave some worldbuilding into the areas you explore. Are there legends of specific monsters in the area? Are there ancient artifacts or locations told of in myth?

Explore the concept of skill challenges from Matt Colville (who knows it better than I do. I’ve just seen it as a common strategy.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvQ2JgZIjVI

IN GENERAL

Don’t be afraid to skip travel if you don’t feel confident writing encounter hooks and lore.

Steal and alter encounter hooks without shame.

Discuss with your table how they like travel to be run. Run through your idea on how to do travel with the party so they know what to expect. Just generally stay on the same page and make sure your party will enjoy what you are giving them.

If you and your party are having fun, you are doing it right. I am writing this post because I want to toy with ideas on how to run travel in my games, and provide a resource for people who might be having trouble.

If you made it here, thank you for reading! If this was helpful, please give it a like and a reblog, and respond with your ideas on travel in D&D! Maybe some stories from times your party has been on a long journey.

#GM tips #dm tips #traveling #D&D #dnd #d&d 5e #soysaucednd #dungeon master #game master

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lunapixu · 4 years

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Pixu Ponders: My Favourite Games of the Decade

As the 2010s come to a close, I wanted to take a look back on my gaming experiences of the past ten years. I wish to look back on the games that I believe shaped my teen and young adult years, games that defined this decade for me, and all my treasured memories with them.

As we go into this, please bear in mind that these are my opinions. If you don’t like what you see, cool.

Furthermore, just because of long this darn post is, I’ve had to keep my list pretty short. If there’s a specific game you think I’ve missed, it’s because I had to cut it out.

Among the games cut from the list are: * Portal 2 * Super Mario Odyssey * Undertale * A Hat in Time * Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild * Stardew Valley * Monster Hunter (3U and World) (If you wish for me to write up about these games like the list below, shoot me an ask.)

The Binding of Isaac (2011 and 2014) (Franchise)

To me, the Binding of Isaac is a trend-defining indie game that, along with a couple other entries on this list, I believe contributed to the indie game boom.

The Binding of Isaac, created by Super Meat Boy's Edmund McMillen, depicts a young boy trying to escape his mother (and his inner torment) by delving into his basement and slaying countless monsters with his tears. Amongst many things, The Binding of Isaac stands out due to its simplistic art, unusual fleshy monsters, frequent depictions of... excrement, and a variety of other unsavoury material.

In spite of the crass material and immature nature its contents carry, The Binding of Isaac is a surprisingly deep and heavily replayable game. Many Roguelites that have sprung this decade like to say “No run is the same” but nowhere is this more clear than in the game that kickstarted the modern Roguelite trend. Within the game, Isaac can collect a wide variety of items that can help better slay monsters or navigate the labyrinthine levels of his basement. Isaac can pick up an item that allows him to shoot a large laser of blood, he could obtain a knife to throw at enemies, he can pick up an item that suspends his tears in midair and then release in a volley of bullets Kylo Ren style. When this game says “No run is the same”, it means it.

On Steam, I have over 250 hours on the game’s 2014 remake (Binding of Isaac Rebirth). I have approx. 300 of the 413 achievements the game has to offer. To say that I love and play the heck out of this game is an understatement. And it’s not even my most played game on Steam.

Hollow Knight (2017)

Hollow Knight was a surprise favourite of mine. Being a big fan of metroidvania games, I knew I was going to like this funky little bug game. After all, the game seemed fun and was going to be something of a hybrid between Metroid-style exploration and progression but a Dark Souls health system and storytelling. What’s not to like?

I will be real here, the first two areas of the game weren’t all that amazing. Though there were pleasant sights, neat characters, and simple but kinda fun gameplay, I couldn’t help but feel like wanting... more. Something more captivating. Perhaps something more amazing might await me if I push on through. A hurdle that I needed to overcome. Would it actually happen or will this fun but unimpressive saunter through the world of insects be all there is? And boy were my instincts right.

I will not go into the specifics but the game’s appeal and charm finally clicked for me after a few hours in. It was a combination of taking on two very specific bosses and entering a specific area of the game that instantly made me fall in love. I was enamoured. What had simply been me crossing a game off my bucket list had turned into an adventure I was whole-heartedly engaged in. This game’s adventure was now my own. It was an adventure that I hadn’t been quite as engaged with as... Kingdom Hearts, honestly. And if my posts on here are any indication, that’s quite the feat.

Hollow Knight’s usage of atmosphere, clever writing and worldbuilding, and simple but challenging gameplay are something of a brilliant recipe. I was fascinated by every single snippet of dialogue, smiling as my little insect buddy clashed with perilous foes, wowed by some of the levels, and charmed by every character who I happened to stumble upon.

Though I only played it so recently (Spring 2019 for reference), I can very confidently put it as one of my favourite games of all-time. A list shared by greats such as The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, Cave Story, Kingdom Hearts 2, and Super Mario Galaxy.

Terraria (2011)

Ah, Terraria... The “2D Minecraft”, the “Minecraft but not as good”, the “Starbound but not in space”.

Terraria, as you may know, is a 2D action-platformer sandbox. It’s a game that drops you into a large (but not unlimited) world and says “You’re gonna need to gear up, bucko.” So, you tear down some trees and dig up the land a bit in a bid to gather some resources. After all, this is a sandbox! It’s mine, mine~ Mine for the taking~ It’s mine, boys. Mine me that gold! *ahem* Seems I got a little carried away. Anyways...

Within the first few minutes, the sun starts to set on Terraria’s world and you’re being mauled apart by zombies. That is unless you built a house and hunkered down for the night to avoid the ghouls that intend to ruin your night. Seem familiar? Well, it should. And it’s why people drum up the comparisons above, flag it as just another sandbox game, and leave.

This, I believe, is not really a fair look at Terraria. Yes, you mine blocks. Yes, you fight monsters at night to survive. But that’s it. Those are the only substantial comparisons to be made. Terraria, as I described earlier, is an action-platformer. To me, Terraria’s sandbox nature and simplistic Minecraft-esque survival come secondary to what I consider to be the meat of the game. The exploration, the combat system, and the shenanigans.

Within the game are several set pieces to explore and countless bosses to fight. Players are expected to plunge headfirst into the rotting landscape of the Corruption (or the more eldritch and bloodied Crimson), delve into the skeleton-filled Dungeon, brave the perilous Jungle, and even venture into Hell itself. In exploring and slaying the many powerful foes that await the player, one can go beyond just “I swing my Iron Sword at a Zombie. Yaaaaaay... =_=“ and into extreme levels of zaniness. Wanna beat up Martians with a lightsaber? I don’t recommend it but you can. Wanna kill a giant robot worm of doom with a minigun? You bet your butt you can.

Minecraft (2009, 1.0 release in 2011)

To say Minecraft didn’t define the 2010s would be a blatant lie. As the #1 best-selling game, a spot hotly contested with Tetris, it’s hard to deny the influence and critical success of this simple voxel-based sandbox game.

What is it that makes Minecraft such a perfect and fantastic game? To me, it’s all in the simplicity of it all. The lack of goal, the blank slate of a world you’re given, and the openness and accessibility of the game. Minecraft expects you to take whatever inspiration and ideas you may have and construct them in this blocky world.

Wanna build a plane? Wanna build a sweet mansion? A bit too normal for you? How about a working computer? What about recreating settings from your favourite games? In Minecraft, you can do just that. And let’s not even forget about the enormous modding community this game has. Automation, adventure, aesthetic, graphical enhancements, quality of life. Mods have everything and more!

Above all else, Minecraft helps to connect. With its huge player base and countless public servers, you’re bound to find a community that will welcome you and treat you right. Minecraft is best played in multiplayer, in my honest opinion. Explore caves with friends, collaborating on build projects, or just plain old chatting and hanging with folks.

For me personally, Minecraft is an invaluable game. Through it, I met countless people, made many friends (several of which I consider my best friends), I even found love through it. Minecraft came to me at a time I needed it most. As a late teen, I was at one of the lowest points in my life. The game allowed me to express myself and work past what issues I had developed over the years. In finding friends and a way to express, Minecraft helped shape me into a much better person. Were it not for this game and the folks I met through it, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

#minecraft #terraria #hollow knight #the binding of isaac #text post #pixu ponders

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so-shiny-so-chrome · 5 years

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Witness: Sacrificethemtothesquid

Creator name (AO3): sacrificethemtothesquid

Creator name (Tumblr): sacrificethemtothesquid

Link to creator works: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sacrificethemtothesquid/works

Q: Why the Mad Max Fandom?

A: It's hard to put it into words. I went into the movie anticipating car chases and explosions and came out enraptured. Max and Furiosa's dynamic was incendiary and I couldn't leave it alone.

Q: What do you think are some defining aspects of your work? Do you have a style? Recurrent themes?

A: My style is long. Too long.

Q: Which of your works was the most fun to create? The most difficult? Which is your most popular? Most successful? Your favourite overall?

A: Length & Breadth was the big project, and it's been a huge journey to see it finished. It wins for most difficult because I had no idea what I was doing or if I could even finish something, and it blows my mind that it resonated with people. My favorite has always been Seven Thousand And One. It hit me so hard and it was so intense to write. It was done in a day and when I came out of it, I was staggering.

Q: How do you like your wasteland? Gritty? Hopeful? Campy? Soft? Why?I

A: am a firm believer that gritty and soft or gritty and hopeful aren't mutually exclusive. I like sinking my teeth into the ugliness of the world. I wrote enough awful grimdark edgelord dreck when I was growing up depressed and it seemed like there was no end in sight. I like that I've learned there's always an up somewhere, even if it doesn't feel like it in the moment. Also I like to break people and put them back together. The harder the breaking, the bigger the healing.

Q: Walk us through your creative process from idea to finished product. What's your prefered environment for creating? How do you get through rough patches?

A: I write down just about every idea I have. Usually they'll come as blips and scenes that I build around later. I find that I write best when I'm supposed to be doing anything else, and the more important the anything else, the easier it is to write. When I hit a rough patch, I step back and let it sit, or jump into another section that feels easier. For me, hitting a rough patch usually means I'm grinding at something that isn't necessary. @thebyrchentwigges gave me some of the best advice I've ever gotten, and that was to start in the middle of the action. It's okay to set the scene, but I can write 10k of buildup without blinking, so dropping myself right into the meat usually cuts away parts that weren't necessary in the first place.

Q: What (if any) music do you listen to for help getting those creative juices flowing?

A: I'll come across one song that hits just right and then I'll listen to that on repeat until it loses its power. I guess it's like a kind of meditation? There's no set process to finding The Song, but the Discover Weekly algorithm on Spotify usually delivers. I've got playlists saved for each story.

Q: What is your biggest challenge as a creator?

A: Length and making less of it. I'm working on being concise. It isn't going well.

Q: How have you grown as a creator through your participation in the Mad Max Fandom? How has your work changed? Have you learned anything about yourself?

A: I had bits and blobs for other fandoms that never really got posted, but I never really committed to anything until people started showing up for L&B. "Thank you" feels absolutely grossly inadequate, so I keep writing things hoping people understand their presence means the world to me. I feel like a toddler presenting macaroni art - I made it because I have no idea how to express how much I love you.

Q: Which character do you relate to the most, and how does that affect your approach to that character? Is someone else your favourite to portray? How has your understanding of these characters grown through portraying them?

A: Furiosa. She's so powerful. I don't think I'd ever seen a woman be so angry and raw, and it was like looking into the sun.

Q: Do you ever self-insert, even accidentally?

A: I think it would be hard for me to write if I didn't.

Q: Do you have any favourite relationships to portray? What interests you about them?

A: As brutally called out by @fuckyeahisawthat: "Dude rolling around in grief and self-loathing, hopelessly besotted with a hypercompetent killer woman".

Q: How does your work for the fandom change how you look at the source material?

A: It forces me to dig deep into canon, which always leads to interesting places. Having that level of familiarity and knowing how much work and worldbuilding it involves makes source richer. The thing I love about George Miller is that I KNOW he's done an insane level of worldbuilding; the problem is that he doesn't SHARE the details of it, so I have to go spend thirty hours becoming an expert in oil cracking just to call something "guzzoline". I like knowing the other 70% of the iceberg, and I think overthinking.

Q: Do you prefer to create in one defined chronology or do your works stand alone? Why or why not?

A: I'm such a global thinker that even if I do manage a one-shot, it can't exist in a vacuum. If I have more than one fic in a fandom, it's going to adhere to an established timeline because otherwise, there'd be nowhere for the plot to go.

Q: To break or not to break canon? Why?

A: Canon is canon is canon. I need to have my work fit seamlessly into the source material and the more solid the canon, the greater the challenge to adhere. For me, it's actually easier writing within a more solid and comprehensive canon, since it helps set the parameters for the story and lets me focus on the emotions.

Q: Share some headcanons.

A: Valkyrie lives.

Q: If you work with OCs walk us through your process for creating them. Who are some of your favourites?

A: Because I keep religiously close to canon, I tend to avoid OCs. That being said, if the story requires them - my Repair Boys, for instance - I try to make them as canon as possible. I look at the existing characters - the ones on-screen for half a frame, the ones mentioned in the production notes, etc etc - and build from that. I'm pretty fond of Keno. I couldn't give my Capable the arc she deserved without him. In my original work, I walk them around in my head and do vignettes from their point of view. What are their influences, what are their weaknesses, if they a choice of things, what they would choose. They're people - think of your best friend or your partner or that weird guy on the bus - and get to know them that way.

Q: If you create original works, how do those compare to your fan works?

A: Strict adherence to canon. I'm always worldbuilding in my head for something. Nothing about being alive exists in a vacuum, and I'm fascinated by paths of influence. It's an endless game of "why?" and "and then what?"

Q: Who are some works by other creators inside and outside of the fandom that have influenced your work?

A: All creators have their own unique take and for me, the variety is what gets me excited. One of the best parts about fandom is that someone else will always bring up something you'd never think of on your own. The MMFR fandom is incredible because there's so much talent. I haven't come across a single piece of work that left me underwhelmed. As a reader and content consumer, it's spoiled me completely, and as a writer, it's set the bar very, very high. It's been a huge honor to be part of this community.

Q: What advice can you give someone who is struggling to make their own works more interesting, compelling, cohesive, etc.?

A: Don't assume you have to write everything in one unbroken line. If you've got ideas for a scene, write that first. Connecting scenes later might still be a drag, but you'll have a better idea of what that connection should look like. I like thinking of my work as a quilt: I know the general pattern and what each square looks like, but once the squares are done they'll need shuffling.

Q: Have you visited or do you plan to visit Australia, Wasteland Weekend, or other Mad Max place?

A: We went to WW16 and WW17. It was so powerful to put faces to names and have actual meatspace time with people I'd come to love online.

Q: Tell us about a current WIP or planned project

A: Fandom-wise, I'm doddering along with an amorphous thing for Dragon Age Inquisition. My main focus (read: the thing I'm procrastinating on) is an original work. It started out being about wizards and now I think it's a murder mystery. It doesn't really know what it is, so neither do I.

Thank you @sacrificethemtothesquid

#Mad Max Fandom Creator Spotlight #Mad Max Fandom Spotlight #mad max fanfic author spotlight #mad max fanfic #mad max fandom #fury road fanfic #fury road fandom #sacrificethemtothesquid

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maguneedsalife · 7 years

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watched the katsugeki finale, thoughts under the cut?

overall i think katsugeki was just okay? it looked beautiful and it was cool seeing my boys in motion but it didn’t really go anywhere.

I think the strongest episodes were the first arc and sakamoto ryoma episode. The episode at the citadel was also really fun, and a nice break from all the tension. It was fun seeing the swords interacting “off the job”. (it’s funny; after hanamaru i wanted more action, and after katsugeki i want more daily life stuff....). The show quickly endeared me to swords I’d never really thought about before (I love Mutsunokami now??? and Tonbokiri??? and Higekiri and Hizamaru??) and all the team-building moments for the second unit were particularly strong. Also the show gave me Mikazuki and Kogitsunemaru in the same shot together so i can die happy

I point out the ryoma/mutsunokami ep in particular because it gave me a lot of Emotions because it addressed the “sword meets master” thing in a rly poignant way. Mutsunokami, who we would expect to be the one who rashly breaks from the group to save his master, ends up handling the whole thing very respectfully and maturely. more than we can say for some other people.... sideyes kunihiro. Mutsunokami was able to accept that his current mission meant allowing his former master to meet his cruel fate.

I almost kinda wish they’d left that theme there and pursued something else for the rest of the show, bc after that I didn’t find the later episodes nearly as compelling. kunihiro does pretty much exactly what Yamatonokami does in Hanamaru, only this is our second rodeo and instead of sympathizing with kunihiro i kind of just want kanesan to deck him

I think the show’s biggest weakness overall is its pacing; a lot of episodes felt slow with not a lot going on, while when things *did* happen, they happened too quickly. (There was apparently a 3 year timeskip somewhere in there and nobody said anything??)

there was also lot of handwringing about what “protecting history” really meant, but I think the show’s answer to that was just a quizzical shrug and a “well what does protecting history mean to YOU?”. They brought up a lot of times that many innocent people still died and how can they be “protecting history” if people are still dying, but in the end I don’t think the show had a clear or satisfactory answer to that.

and like, part of the problem was that the source material doesn’t really have a clear story. You don’t know what the Time Retrograde Army is after, all you do is send swords in to stop them. But in the end if you don’t know what your enemy wants, the conflict isn’t super compelling. imo ufotable had a huge chance to fill in their own story where the game left it blank, and i dooon’t think they rly took full advantage of that.

I would love for this show to get another season so it can really dig into the question of what “protecting history” means. I would love more background on saniwa--who are they? why are they tasked with protecting history? what does the “present” look like that needs to be protected? what would happen if they did nothing? Touken Ranbu as a whole could benefit greatly from more worldbuilding in that direction. It would be easier to understand what the swords are fighting to protect if we had a concrete idea of what's at stake.

(i still remain committed to my dream of a fate-style touken ranbu anime featuring many saniwa and their swordboy partners all competing for a common goal)

anyway, to finish this off on a positive note, the final battle was worth all of the successive bullshit it took to get there. ufotable is known for their fights, and while a lot of the fight scenes in katsugeki were kinda eh, the final battle DELIVERED. seeing all the swords fighting side by side was the god damn best (and mutsunokami had some great gunplay shots too!!!)

also, I still stand by my previous post about it--that katsugeki is cool as a big budget action show for a primarily female audience. I would love to see the anime industry catering more to my demographic with serious shows as well as fun ones. Katsugeki proves that just because something is “for women” doesn’t mean it has to be frivolous. It can be cool and flashy, graceful and elegant, with high stakes, drama, action--and the reassurance that I’m welcome to take part in it. It had none of the male gaze-y bullshit that other animes use to signal that I’m not welcome there.

i think that’s the most important part of katsugeki, for me: that it was made for fans like me, with love and respect. and so, despite its many flaws, that’s what I'll be taking away from it.

#magu plays touken ranbu #i had a lot to say about this show lmao....

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sealedbeastnue · 7 years

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ayyy im watching like , a shitload, of anime this season. so im doing like 1-2 sentence Initial Reviews to show my contempt for anime (its because I dont have time haha)

get ready for Jokes.gif

symphogear S4: everyone is hot. lesbians are buff and have terrifyingly arousing voices and everything is off the fucking rails already at episode 4 watch this show

isekai restauraunt: earth gentrifier scams medieval AU out of hard earned silver coins because theyve never had grilled cheese or fried chicken

youkai apartment: touhou except its not, this actually ended up good despite being really plain and i’m kind of digging the sincerity and weight of it

skirt no naka: trap moar

knight’s & magic: trap moar also this is kind of cool and has subtle humor

fate apocrypha: TRAP MOAR and this is of course one of the top shows this season who didnt see that coming? classic fate PLOT TWISTS

princess principal: steampunk except not obnoxious and with, again, scary girls who are tough and get shit done. I keep rewatching scenes because its so good

centaur no nayami: if youre going to adapt strong source material you have to either 1) dynamic animation 2) interesting art style 3) good music 4) strong body posing instead of Standing and Sitting, pick 2-3 and not 0 instead

action heroine cheer fruits: budget sakura quest with actually some cool fight animation? I’m into this its just silly enough without being irritating or dumb

the reflection: old man fails to make superhero anime

kakegurui: SHALL WE GAMBLE? (fapping furiously against a gun)

ballroom e youkoso: this show was written by a aliems. I dont understand a goddamn thing thats going on or any of the style choices. (close to dropped)

shoukoku no altair: sleeper hit, its about “Turkey” and “European Politics” pre “World War 1″ this show is fucking hype and doesnt pull punches. and has the best ED illustrations of the season

vatican miracle examiners: CHRIST MEMES I dunno boyz im just here to have some fun with this silly shit (though I think its actually getting good now)

classroom of the elite: kind of a budget kakegurui but its neat, I like just how fucked everyone is and how nobody realizes theyre a bunch of assholes. cant wait 4 these kids to be completely ruined forever.

hajimete no gal: I still havent determined whether this show is misogynist trash or whether it’s chugging respect women juice but im leanin towards the latter

hina logi: its not gripping me for some reason because it’s very, extremely fluffy, but this show is sorta gay and has an AWESOME OP animation/song full package. its not bad I probably need to give it more attention and respect to enjoy it more

netsuzou trap: sexual violence has never made me feel this filthy and wrong! hooray! (close to dropped)

nana maru san batsu: were you in quiz bowl in school? (TUCKS HAIR BEHIND EAR) ITS TIME TO D_D_D_D_D_-dd-d--d-d-D_D DUEL

made in abyss: another sleeper hit, this is top 5 of the season for sure. the worldbuilding and subtlety is top tier and the animation outshines most animated films you need to watch this

gamers!: came for the Possible Memeworthyness, staying for the I Dont Know If This Is Good Yet but it might actually be good. we are all gamers though I dont really know whats up with main girl she spent episode 2 drooling and starin idfk whats going on my dudes

tenshi no 3P!: die (dropped)

touken ranbu: its about boys and it has weird kind of awkward animation. I was hoping for a 4th TRAP MOAR this season but it looks like this one’s not for me also shakycam does NOT belong in animation. (dropped)

aho girl: not my type of comedy but I guess not bad (dropped)

clione no akari: I have no idea if this is good but based on the simplicity I’m guessing no, its not very interesting. (close to dropped)

smartphone: fuck you (dropped)

keppeki danshi: this might be ok for people who like Boys and Comedy Sort Of. watch if you like those things I think this could be a good show but I aint about that life. (dropped)

18if: No. (dropped)

battle girl high school: Stop making shows now (dropped)

yami shibai S5: ?????? ???????reality is breaking down around me (dropped)

-----

holdovers and other stuff:

castlevania netflix anime: dude this was really fucking cool I was amazed. so much viscera and awesome animation I highly enjoyed and lookin forward to S2

sin nanatsu no taizai: please come back... why did your studio shut down please I just want closure... , _____ , bub...

maid dragon specials: WHY ARE THESE BACK? PLEASE PUT THEM AWAY

sakura quest: best, best best tier. best fucking tier you need to watch this show about young adults finding their place in the world right now.

granblue fantasy: “eh” (dropped)

re:creators: noooooooooooo idea

stella jogakuin koutou-ka c3-bu: more girls with guns and fucking weirdos? I’m all over it.

seikon no kwaser: I, too, like breast milk.

#cami anime review garbage train

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nelrunari · 5 years

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❖ AND THE DREAM CALLS: OLIVER “OLLIE” WRIGHT.

Character Name: Oliver “Ollie” Wright.

↳ “Defender of love and justice, nya!” While the title, for the time at least, is now retired, he was also known as Nyan Diamond! One of six destined heroes to save the world from total devastation. In the same breath, he is also familiar with “Oleander”, a vice that once controlled him and one he fears the return of.

Pronouns: He/Him.

Age: 18, born February 28th.

Trigger Warnings: underage drinking, suicide ideation and attempts, unhealthy coping skills.

Appearance: Tanned and heavily freckled, surprisingly well-built body considering his recent choices in lifestyle. Twin clavicle piercings. His hair is typically light-brown in color, and oft disheveled, a choice coming from favoring styling with his hands rather than a brush if he puts in the effort at all. Doe-eyed, violet in color, though his eyes are often puffy due to frequent crying.

The only traits that carried over from Nyan Diamond are a long tabby gray tail + folded ears. He’s kept both human and feline traits, much to his dismay. Should he take on his hero form in entirety, his hair would be a bright sky blue instead, and the same blue pairs well with the violet-pink color in his eyes.

An extension of the contract includes the potential of turning in full to a feline, though thankfully this is rare. Should this happen, he would be an average-sized Scottish Fold cat.

Visual references can be found HERE.

Personality: A crybaby to his very core, the smallest thing causes tears to well and it’s not as if he hasn’t tried to stop them. Oliver is easily startled and can be described as glass-hearted. he puts up a brave face as Nyan Diamond, but it’s not something he can keep up with any ease.

Fragile at his best, and cowardly at his worst, becoming a hero wasn’t exactly a plan he had in his life. In the same breath, he isn’t so sure he wanted to be saved. Post-Oleander, he’s beyond grateful for the friends he’s formed and the support he’s received with the group, though an immeasurable amount of guilt still rests beneath the surface. He tries, truly, and that’s all anyone can ask for.

More positive traits: affectionate, amiable, capable, careful, considerate, cooperative, crafty, determined, diligent, eager, efficient, encouraging, faithful, fanciful, generous, gentle, humble, observing, polite, sensitive, sincere, tactful.

More negative traits: afraid, (inwardly) aggressive, anxious, cowardly, depressed, distressed, doubtful, finicky, fidgety, hopeless, naive, pessimistic, scornful, self-destructive, weak.

MBTI: isfp.

TEMPERAMENT: melancholic.

ALIGNMENT: neutral good.

Background: The scent of salt water was overwhelming. There are other things he should be fretting about, he thinks, not that it matters. He’d stood on the cliffside overlooking the bay multiple times before, but this time was different. This time, he had a plan. And this time, he felt confident in it. Before the New Year, and after Christmas, Oliver had planned his own death. No note, just an accident. Or, well--to anyone else it would be. (So he thought.)

Or, he had felt confident in it. Every step closer he had felt himself tremble, and by the time he was merely a step or two from the edge fear had consumed him once again, and he--playing right into the vicious cycle--fell to his knees and cried.

He never could do it. He never could take those last few steps. For as much as his mind echoed the thought, he could never make the jump. And he had thought about it often; familiar with the water below, and what time the tide was its highest, and he knew what it might feel like to be dragged under. For a while, that was comforting. And yet he never could.

And then he was given a chance to escape. Away from home, a chance at a new life. For the first time in what must have been years: he felt hopeful. He wouldn’t think much of that little miracle for years to come.

In total, he thinks, he had been blessed with three miracles. Leaving was the first.

He’d been enrolled in a school not far from a small apartment, and not farther still from his place of employment. Eventually, he’d settled into a routine. Wake up, go to class, go to work, go home, sleep, and repeat. It was predictable, and predictably boring, but it was something. It was enough. He was alive, and to anyone who cared, that was all that mattered.

The second miracle was meeting Lucky. If you asked him what it was like to meet a talking dog, he’d tell you it was a blur, but he wouldn’t elaborate. Mostly because he doesn’t remember.

He remembers drinking quite a bit, and dozing with his face pressed against the living room table, bottle still in hand. He remembers feeling miserable, once again, and doing so to “cope”. (At the very least, he wasn’t thinking anything in particular, which he thought helped him immensely.) And he vaguely remembers something wet drawing him back to drowsy state, swaying ever slightly as he pushed himself up from the table, holding his head up weakly with his free hand. He remembers seeing a white mass, blinking black eyes, and he remembers it saying...something. What it was, he doesn’t recall. The next thing he knows is he signed something, but he doesn’t remember how messy the signature looked and he doesn’t remember falling back asleep on top of it after the fact and he doesn’t remember where it went when he woke up.

Left in place of the blur was a bell, and a note explaining its purpose. “As of today,” it read, “you will be known as a protector of love and justice! The world is in danger. I trust you to find the others and bring peace and prosperity back to the land! P.S. You should attach this to something. It’s very, very, very important! Ring it and you’ll see!” Signed with a pawprint: “Your dear friend, Lucky!”

The third miracle, if you were to ask, were his friends.

They weren’t friends at first. Or, well, most of them weren’t. Some of them were, and in Oliver’s case, he was dating the leader of the party of six when they weren’t busy fighting god-knows-what. They were all confused kids with no idea what they were doing and no idea on what to do about their new partial-animal counterparts.

And they had saved him.

They had adjusted well enough, become something competent. Fighting enemies became a breeze, and they met often between classes or after work; bringing a healthy change to the routine that Oliver had felt comfortable with. Sometimes they joked about how cartoon-ish it all sounded. “Like an anime!” One would say. “You guys know about Madoka, right? Oh, well, maybe we’re more like a modern Mew Mew…” Other times they stressed over what might come next, after a particularly difficult enemy.

Oliver had never expected the feelings that haunted him still to leave him vulnerable to the monsters they fought.

Maybe in a sense, he was always fighting a battle. One with himself, and he had for a while. And with this--the overwhelming fear and anxiety atop all else--he had lost. Brought to life, was Oleander.

Here’s the thing with Vices of this nature. The host they possess is fully aware of the process, and is fully aware of every action the Vice takes. Their thoughts and feelings may be clouded with whatever formed the creature to begin with, but they are still painfully keen.

So when the Nyans fought him back, as they are contracted to do, Oliver was there, and his tears would fall behind clouded eyes and fangs bare. He’d felt each hit, and he’d felt that it felt that it did not care. It was intent on taking them both out completely. Brute force in its entirety would not be enough to banish it. Force alone would only let it win.

The Nyans won, of course, and instead of a typical bliss, at first all he felt was regret. As soon as he felt feet touch ground and dull nails dig into the ground below, he started to sob. Apologies poured from his lips out of habit, begging for a forgiveness he felt he didn’t deserve. And then he felt them crowd around him, and hug as tightly as they could.

They stayed there a while. A group of kids once again, sitting in a circle in what might as well have been the middle of nowhere. One of them rested a comforting hand on his knee, and the other holding him close with an arm around his shoulder, and the rest just sat close. And they talked, and he confessed. Confessed everything he thought he never would, or could, to anyone. Each and every miracle, and each and every secret.

They had saved him, he’d say, and he was more grateful than they could ever know.

Memento: A choker with a bell, something that seems rather innocuous at a glance. Really, what it once was was the trinket used to help him transform. Ringing it now does nothing but make a pleasant sound. He’s never seen without it.

Natural Abilities: Basic water manipulation: can move and shape water and similar compounds with ease. This was his primary method of attack, but without creation or any real power behind it it’s little more than a fun party trick. Enhanced senses and basic abilities thanks to cursed contracts: nothing too extreme, upped vitality and strength--can take a good few hits--maybe a bit faster than he once was. More ease with seeing things at night or in dark settings. Better hearing and sense of smell.

Power History: Advanced water manipulation and hydromancy, extends to ice and more dangerous attacks. Probability manipulation, making him or those he applies this to either luckier or unluckier as needed. Full feline transformation upon intense emotional impact. Etc.

Basic Worldbuilding and F.A.Q.

The Cat’s Nyas are best described as defenders of love and justice! Contracted by Lucky, a familiar-like dog, the Nyans have been assigned the task of defending the world (or at least, the city of sin) from total devastation, fighting off enemies who otherwise hold full intent to harm those they’re born from and humanity as a whole.

Their enemies are known as Covets and Vices, respectively, with covets being lesser enemies in comparison to vices. More specific info can be found under the link in ‘Extra!’

Oliver’s own vice was known as ‘Oleander’. Classified ‘Type C’, sub-classed as ‘Self-Destructive.’ His character arc involves becoming and overcoming Oleander.

↳ Oleander is the first vice the Nyans–sans Ollie offensively–encounter that seeks its own destruction rather than someone else’s. He appears to have no qualms about using outside means to obtain this, nor does he seem to care for any harm that is done to those outside the realm they fight in. Though he still sometimes cries, it’s more frequent he thrusts himself almost literally headfirst into danger.

He is formed from the untreated and persistent depressive and suicidal tendencies of Oliver, who prior to the possession, kept his previous ideation of suicide and previous plans of it close to his chest, hidden from others so as to prevent concern. Not even the family he left were aware of his plans to attempt it. He has never sought treatment for his worsening mental state, finding temporary solace in both drinking and gambling. It’s frequent he wastes entire paychecks on either of those things, and already has strikes on his record for this behavior. This possession forces him, rather unwillingly, to address and confront his mindset outright, though he does seem more than a little unnerved after he’s free from the vice’s grasp.

All of these enemies typically reside in their own respective realm. Time seems to not pass by at all while within them, or at the very least, it doesn’t flow normally. Those who enter one are typically left in a dream-like state, stuck in a fantastical haze until either they adjust to their new surroundings or leave them.

Nothing in these realms feels ‘real’, heavily due to the fact they’re constructed and house the creatures born from human negativity. They don’t really have any true physical form, just the vague resemblance of one. The Cat’s Nyas, due to their contract, are immune to this effect. To an extent, they even take on a part of it. It’s why when transformed, they are unrecognizable to the general public. They appear as if they were in a dream, their faces something difficult to recognize and recall because looking at them is like looking at something that isn’t quite there. It’s a permanent effect, up until someone is made AWARE of their true identities. After that fact, they’d be recognizable–liken it to lucid dreaming. When you’re aware something is a dream, any ‘filter’ loses it’s effect.

Extra:

Anytime he mentions a contract, please know he means its a contract with hundreds of pages. None of the six Nyans read it in full. F.

Prior to moving to america, he was on his school’s swim team for a few years. It’s something he genuinely enjoyed and was fairly good at, although he had dropped out of it about a year before his leave alongside other extracurriculars.

He’s That Bitch™ who’s surprisingly good at math. It’s actually his favorite subject! He’s never gotten anything less than an A in any math class, if anything, that’s the only consistent grade he’s had. He has taken a few advanced classes, and is currently taking calculus and ap statistics.

Loves certain sports and played a few rough games with old friends when he was younger. He’s really into rugby and soccer (football), and tries to keep up with the national events when he can. American football is okay but he’s not as interested in it as the other two.

Vastly prefers being out and about/being outside than being cooped up inside all day, despite that being a majority of what he does now. He used to go to the beach a lot when he was able to and likes most outdoor recreational activities. He’s tried most at least once, but his favorites are cycling, fishing (catch and release), and hiking. The only one he can’t stand is hunting.

Absolutely refuses to swear. He used to, and he doesn’t care if other people do, he just personally chooses not to. Will instead replace words ( hell = heck, etc. ) or try and be more creative insult-wise if he has to.

He has collarbone piercings, and only got them after a lost bet with his best friend. It wasn’t that big of a deal though, he had wanted them anyway, she just gave him the push and support he needed to actually go through with it.

He’s had a lot of pets over the years, either his own family’s or ones that they’ve fostered and given away. Surprisingly, more of a dog person than a cat person. Still at home, his family has two dogs of their own: two border collies from the same litter, respectively named Parsley and Sage. He asks for updates on them a lot and saves any pictures he gets on his phone.

Has an irrational fear of both birds and lizards. Please don’t ask.

Loves fruit and caramel, Absolutely hates coconut.

His mother taught him a bit about sewing when he was a preteen, mostly so it became his responsibility to fix any tears in his clothes. He hasn’t kept up with it, but vaguely remembers how to and can in a pinch.

He texts with a lot of emojis and punctuation. lots of ‘!!!!!!’ and ‘????????’. The nicknames on his phone aren’t usually shortened, but are always followed up with a string of emojis he associates with them.

Beyond tired of Australian stereotypes. He will get up and leave wherever he is if someone brings one up in means of jest or in otherwise non-questioning intent.

Can be lowkey passive aggressive, particularly on-shift as a croupier. If he’s dealing for a table with a rude player, he’ll subtly shift favor to the other players. He knows numerous ways of cheating in the varying card games, but only focuses on doing so in these situations. no bribes or bullshit here thanks! (Tips are always nice though. Tip your dealer, kids.)

He’s really … really … really out of touch with modern tv shows or games and the like. Like, he has a vague idea of what movies are playing but anything else? Nada. What the fuck is popular nowadays. He’d probably be into a few if someone brought them up, but if you ask him what his favorite of [xyz] is, it’ll probably be something that was big in the mid-00s.

You know the type of people whose folders/shelves/general living space looks like an absolute disaster but they still know where every little thing is? Olliecore. He’ll neaten stuff up a bit to make it look presentable if he absolutely has to, it’s just that that kind of situation is rare and it takes way more energy than it’s worth. Let him live.

PINTEREST BOARD.

ABOUT PAGE/TUMBLR.

ANIMATIC - SHINE A LIGHT REPRISE. tw for alcohol and imagery of suicide.

ANIMATIC - WIP REGRET.

ANIMATION TEST - BREATHING SLOW.

SMOOOCH MEME WIP.

MISS WANNA DIE WIP/SCRAPPED.

DAY IN THE LIFE OF MEME.

❖ Nelrunari Section ❖

Ward: Circinus

Player Tag: Here

❖ OOC Section ❖

Name/Alias: Pascal (or) Orion !

Contact: @orirising (main twitter) @plaglacier (rp talk twitter)

Age: 20

Pronouns: He/they.

#nelru apps #pc ( orion )#char ( oliver wright )

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prinzenhasserin · 7 years

Text

Yuletide!

Dear Yule Goat/Creator/Person I Will Love Forever,

I am very excited for anything you write for these fandoms. Please feel free to take my prompts and likes any way you wish, as long as you stick to my dislikes. Don’t feel like you have to stick to the prompts! I’m always open for other characters. Generally, I will be delighted with any rating from gen to explicit. I hope you have fun creating!

My AO3 name is Prinzenhasserin, here. If you want to browse more of my letters, here are some at my exchange letter tag.

Likes:

fake/pretend relationships, arranged marriages

loyalty

odd couples

found family, dysfunctional families that nevertheless love each other

historical stories for same-sex pairings that aren’t unhappy but that fit with the society of the time (so like, spinster ladies living together; bachelors-for-life)

cultural differences, age differences, height differences

heists, rescue missions, case fic

dragons, fairy tales, magical realism, urban fantasy

competent characters

people not realising they’re the most competent at their job/hobby

people failing their way to success

happy endings, earning your happy ending, open yet hopeful endings

cynical humour

mutual pining

suits, corsetry, fancy dresses

Identity shenanigans (secret identities, mistaken identities)

Blatant Lies

Enemies finding common ground and becoming friends/lovers; rivalry

outsider POV, 1st person narrator

epistolary, fictional non-fiction, worldbuilding, interactive fiction, poetry

orange/blue morality (that is, not entirely human morality); grey/grey morality

people not usually found in law enforcement solving crimes

non-verbal expressions of affection

contradictions: that is, I like my fantasy with the mundane (doing taxes in a mythical land of dragons, or space pirates!) and I like my mundane fiction with outrageous happenings.

Kinks:

wall sex! overcome with sudden desire! sex with clothes on!

shifting power dynamics (outside the bedroom, and inside the bedroom), actions on both sides, basically

stiff characters letting go of their iron control inside the bedroom; characters feeling guilty of their desire but not guilty enough to stop; coming to terms with the guilt

lots of foreplay, drawn out orgasms, edging

desperate sex, drunk sex, we-just-can’t-help-it!sex, sex for life-affirming; sex pollen

sex toys

Dislikes (Do-Not-Want):

rape played for laughs, or as backstory

sexuality, or gender as the focus of plot or used for drama

suicide

tragic endings (ambiguous endings are fine, though!)

RED (Movies)

(Characters: Victoria, Sarah Ross)

This movie, goddamn it. It’s so silly, and so! much! shit! explodes, but I can’t help but find it charming and adorable.

If you want to write me Victoria teaching Sarah how to handle her weapons and shoot shit up, I am absolutely here for that. I would also love secret spy shenanigans, or a situation where only the secret skills of the customer service person Sarah or the filling skills of a bored bureaucrat (also: Sarah) save the day in a spectacular manner.

Or Victoria taking Sarah under her wing and teaching her everything she knows about life, men, and how to end both. Or trying to protect her from the fucked-up shit in her life, and then maybe realising that maybe Sarah doesn’t need to be protected.

I am a fan of the age difference, too, and I do ship them together, if you rather want to write that. Give me all the fucked up femslash! Going on murderous rampages together, and having sex amid the slain corpses of their enemies, yes, that. Bedsharing because circumstances have them hiding out in the Siberian Tundra. Victoria dressing up Sarah and taking her as a trophy wife to diplomatic functions? Seducing Sarah so Victoria can rub their togetherness into Frank’s face. Taking people of guard, because the expected a toy boy, and not -- whatever Sarah is.

DNW: mommy kink

Gokusen (Manga)

(Characters: any -- Fujiyama Shizuka, Kuroda Ryuuichirou, Sawada Shin, Yamaguchi Kumiko)

How do I love this manga so much? I have no idea. I’m not even near high school age anymore, and yet the plot (and tbh, sometimes its ridiculous nature) always gets to me. I’d read more about any aspect of this canon, and if you want to bring in any other characters, and leave others out, feel entirely free to.

Post-canon would be great, but anything goes really. Focusing on just one character would be terrific. Having all of them would be great!

Kumiko has adventures with another class, or her minions! Does she continue with being a school teacher? Maybe she starts leading the Yakuza group, and still goes to school to teach her kids manners, and morals, and how to fight the system?

Shin goes to law school/Africa/some place, but gets lost on the way there! Will he come back to Yankumi? Will he eventually lead the Yakuza group?

Fujiyama Shizuka doesn’t get why she’s the one without the beautiful student toy-boy, and tries to find one herself, and instead falls in love with, idk, the new female teacher? one of Yankumi’s brothers? the new janitor? Or she watches and cackles a lot as Yankumi and Shin date, and then maybe found a Yakuza orphanage, and/or marry.

Kuroda Ryuuchiro and his quest for the rightful heir to his Yakuza group! How does he feel about his granddaughter running around with the police chief’s son — does that bother him more than the whole student thing? Does Shin really inherit the Kuroda family group? Does he become a Yakuza lawyer? Or does Yankumi make him stay away, or maybe Kuroda makes them stay away?

I ship Shin/Yankumi but gen is delightful also.

How does Shin convince Yankumi to have sex with him? Is he getting kidnapped left and right before they actually get together because all and sundry already think they’ve been doing each other for years?

If they are already in an established relationship, how does Shin deal with Yankumi’s students (especially when one of them develops a crush)?

I have no problems about depicting violence, or graphic criminal activities, but please keep the violence perpetrated by the nominated characters within the spirit of the manga? I like to root for morally ambiguous characters, but not if they are truly evil.

Roundtable Rival - Lindsey Stirling (Music Video)

(Characters: Durango Black, The Violinist (Roundtable Rival))

I love this music video! It’s so silly and fun! It is here, if you want to watch it yourself, but basically, people are fighting each other with music instruments to a jaunty tune, set in the Wild Wild West.

Basically, fighting with music! Foiling dastardly plans! I want to read more about this! And anything goes, really. If you want to focus more on one character, or want to show this from an outside perspective, either would be great.

Lowkey, I’m really a fan of rival-dynamics, and love to ship enemies, so bringing a lovestory between Durango Black and the Violinist would make my day. Or if there’s a dynamic like "You are the only one allowed to catch me"? —Perfection

Maybe they know each other from before? Maybe there’s epic discussion about different ways to fight each other with music (I’d be into reading about that!).

Would also be into PWP where the Violinist dominates Durango Black. Some Bootlicking, maybe? Or creative uses of the music instruments. Or clothing porn!

Or case fic where The Violinist tours around the country, catching criminals; or just a glimpse into how music developed its own fighting style — or performing tricks like shooting an apple out of the air, just with music instruments!

(Additional question for worldbuilding: What is that clear liquid they serve in beer humps?)

DNW: rape (dubcon is fine, though!)

British Romantic Writers RPF

Characters: John Keats (British Romantic Writers RPF), Lord Byron (British Romantic Writers RPF), Percy Shelley (British Romantic Writers RPF)

Okay, I’m not even vaguely sorry. Here’s my confession: I ship all of these with each other, as pairs, or as threesome. I’d read them writing spite!fic, or rather spite!poetry, about each other, though! Or a zombie!AU, in which they are all stumbling incompetently around the dead suddenly among the living. Or maybe they turn out to be surprisingly competent at killing/evading zombies! (I’d expect nothing less from Percy Shelley who seduced people on graveyards, tbh)

Hey — at least they knew of each other! I am into the really very dysfunctional relationships with each other, here. Who is to say they wouldn’t have been very happy with each other in various constellations? Lord Byron seemed to have detested Keats — or at least thought his poetry as "mental masturbation" — I’d dig them in a rival relationship, that suddenly develops into a sexual relationship. Maybe even romantic? (Definitely romantic in the original sense)

And I can definitely see Lord Byron condescending down on Keats for his poor upbringing, without being aware that this is what he is doing, and Keats so not having that. And Percy Shelley with his continued efforts into giving all his money to charity while having the luxury to seduce women and traipse around the continent!

How about an AU in which Keats doesn’t die and joins Percy Shelley in Pisa (and for some reason Lord Byron is there, too — I will not read this for the historical accuracy, believe me)

Basically! Literature! Orgies! Seducing people in graveyards, and skinny-dipping in French rivers, that’s all I really want. I’m not saying no if you do decide to go down the historical accurate road, but I’ll also read all sorts of wild AUs.

Or adventures in Greece during the revolution in an Everybody-Lives!AU?

Percy Shelley wrote an elegy about Keats, and said this when he invited him to Pisa: "I am aware indeed that I am nourishing a rival who will far surpass me and this is an additional motive & will be an added pleasure." Added pleasure? (He means fucking! says me) I am just very into rival relationships that turn sexual or more.

Look, I’m just here for Lord Byron and Percy Shelley seducing a reluctant Keats — and Keats maybe anchoring them a bit down to earth. Or various combinations.

I am not into the long-term effects of drug use and the suffering thereof, but if you want to mention it, that is totally fine. I wouldn’t want it glorified.

DNW: contemplation of suicide, vore

Miss Marple - Agatha Christie

Characters: Jane Marple

I am a fan of Miss Marple. I, too, have lived in a quiet town where you can see into the abysses of the human condition :D

I’d love to read something that lead her to the person we know her as, maybe when she went to the girl school in Switzerland? Maybe during her time in the cypher division, during the war — maybe the cypher division was really a cover for Miss Marple’s spy activities for the war office?

I’d also love fic about her as we know her: spending time in St. Mary Mead’s and solving crimes, quietly knitting her nephew another sweater. Holiday themed fic! Somebody keeps stealing the geese for the holiday celebrations!

Honestly, I’d also really like to read about her in a relationship, especially one that people wouldn’t expect of an elderly woman. Did she have a youthful indiscretion with the prime minister, and now that he is widowed, he visits her again, and Jane’s nephew is entirely shocked by the whole thing?

Was she maybe in love with a woman the whole time? Did she quietly retire into a cottage with her best friend, and they have a romantic relationship with each other?

(Or crossovers! It would be super interesting if Miss Marple knew a wizard from the Harry Potter universe, or maybe she’s a squib or a with herself? Or maybe she knows Phryne Fisher, or Lord Peter Wimsey!)

Island of the Aunts | Monster Mission - Eva Ibbotson

Characters: Dorothy (Island of the Aunts)

Look. This is one of my favourite books. I would read absolutely anything about every single character— I choose Dorothy, simply because she’s my most favourite, but if you want to write a story where she’s not the focus, I’d still be ecstatic.

That said, omg, Dorothy. I love her (and her wok!) and I would read countless stories on adventures she had while going off of the island in a rage to be angry at polluters, or hunters of endangered species, or both. I like that she seems to be the most competent in dealing with outsiders, even though usually she rather likes to resort to violence.

So! Pre-Canon, or Post-Canon, whatever; either would be great!

How is the work on the island? How is Dorothy dealing with her piranha farm? Maybe she decided to pursue some other, even stranger, protection against various and sundry? Does the Kraken return to the island?

How does Dorothy deal with the mermaids? Is she tolerant of their foibles, or is it a similar relationship to the one she has with her sister Betty, that is: polite bewilderment?

How does Dorothy feel to be suddenly the responsible one, who didn’t kidnap children and make them work with her? How’s her relationship with Etta, and does Dorothy milk it for all that it is worth?

Did Dorothy ever fall in love? Was it someone off the island, campaigning for more environmental protection? A mythical creature of her very own?

Who did she meet in prison? (Was Archie someone Dorothy pulled in?) How did she deal with prison in Hong-kong? Is Dorothy the reason there are now forest cities in China (— this is maybe a bit of a reach, since Hong Kong isn’t really mainland China and all, but I’d love if the Aunts have a bit of an influence on the world, even though Fabio is probably never going to be Brasilians prime minister. Though I would read a story about that.)

(Burning questions I have that aren’t relevant to Dorothy as a character: Is Herbert ever going to return? Is the younger Kraken?)

DNW: unhappy endings

If there’s something confusing, please don’t hesitate to ask! (Anon happens to be open, too.) And I hope you have a fun Yuletide!

#exchange letter #yuletide 2017

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