The bank teller is grey!!! This is exciting and surprising as this is one I discovered myself and wasn't spoiled on!

i think they should be 50k words slowburn romance

More Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermilion Rambling

Extreme spoilers edition - I'm about 7/8 of the way through the game, I think. Maybe a little less. My characters are level 36 and my completed file has them at like, 43.

After a big Detective Pikachu->Mewtwo Raid->preparing 3DS Pokemon games Pokemon for transfer (which I'm still in the middle of) break, I'm back to playing A Tear of Vermilion, at least during the weekdays.

At first I had a harder time getting into it, but then I actually got to the next story beat: the confirmation that Mile is alive.

I didn't actually remember this part - the part at the starting village. With Mile's possessed body being used by the main villain to cause problems in the village and corrupt the nature spirit.

Already, I am a sucker for games that take you back to the starting village, but something is wrong. Neopets: The Darkest Faerie in particular hit me hard since I played in the starting village as a kid and didn't beat the game until I was in college.

In this game it didn't hit me as hard, but it still hit. The darker music in the familiar town. The peaceful villagers being possessed by the villains and being used against Avin. And Mile in particular. The childhood friend. The healer in all aspects. Being used as a weapon against his best friend.

And now, past that, I've reached a plot point where Avin and co. are trying to find an explosive crystal and I'm like "why do I remember this of all things?" Although, by Michel's reaction to them, I wonder if what I remember is from Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch, as I've played that game twice. I do recognize Michel's full name and I know he's from that game, but I think he has green hair in that game while it's brown in this one? Unless I'm mixing him up with someone else.

Seems there is one nature spirit left to save, and then we'll be able to enter the final area. Writer guy says he's wrapping up his series, and I got the final book in the Swordsmaster series, so the game seems to be coming to a close.

It is interesting how the story changes to be much more videogame-y after the first half. In the first half, you're traveling the land with two goals: deliver a thing to one place, and then another, and find Eimelle, wherever she happens to be. Everything else that happens is incidental, and Avin and co. get involved because they're good people who want to help. This ends up making them friends who help Avin in his goals.

The second half, you go to a shrine and find out you need to backtrack across the land and go to 5 other shrines. Each shrine has a boss you must defeat to receive a token. Get all the tokens to unlock the final area.

And of course, getting back into the series, I get obsessed a bit and decided to think about/chart out my course through the Trails series to follow. Nevermind that I still have two more Gagharv games I want to beat before then, and nevermind that I have a ton of other games I'll be mixing in, meaning it will be literal years before I get to my first new game.

Perhaps my biggest problem - the fact that I own Trails in the Sky First Chapter and don't have any way to get the others - will be solved by then. Maybe they'll actually release that trilogy for Switch (or Switch 2 or whatever).

Or maybe not. And I'll have to make the decision then whether I want to watch a playthrough of the other two games to see their stories before moving on or accept the uncommon situation of having the information of the first game and not the others going into the second arc.

I should probably watch the videos. Since I think I'd be more confused knowing some but not all than I would knowing nothing going into the second arc. But I'm not going to not play the game I bought.

But this is also Not Something I Should Be Worrying About Right Now. Because, again, it'll be years before I reach the point where I'm starting the Trails series.

Book Review: Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

This book was the book of the month choice for my Neopets guild.

I could tell from really early on that this book was going to become a comfort book for me. It follows Emily, a Cambridge researcher writing an encyclopaedia of the world of the fae, and her rival/colleague, Wendell. The pacing of the book really does a great job of slowly building things up without really telling you exactly where it will take you next. While there were stakes in the story, it still felt very comforting to read, and I almost wish I would have read it in the winter time to go along with the setting. Spoilers from this point forward! A major reason I could tell this would become a comfort read for me was because I related very much so to Emily's introverted nature. She does a great job understanding the world of the fae, but has a hard time relating with the human beings around her, and this is not for lack of effort (though, there is a lot of that as well;) Emily just genuinely doesn't know how to relate to other people even though she still cares about them. Emily's colleague Wendell, however, is completely the opposite: He is a cast-out faerie prince who understands other fae enough to conduct research, but is INCREDIBLY good at connecting with humans around him, despite not really caring for any of them at all outside of Emily. These characters make incredible foils of each other, and their back-and-forth is a lot of fun to read. The descriptions of the different kinds of fae you see in the book are so well done and really do a good job of emphasizing how scary the fae can be, as well as describing the setting in a way that you could envision it perfectly without going TOO overboard on descriptions. I would say the only real complaint I have with the book is the romance, and that just may be because romance is almost always the least interesting part of a story for me. This book was very close to having a perfect romance plot for me, but instead of a typical love confession, it went from casual flirting to full-on marriage proposal. The marriage proposal by the faerie king at the end of the book feels correct for the character, as he sees marrying Emily as a reward to her for her freeing him; but it feels unnatural for Wendell to propose marriage to Emily as he's professing his love for the very first time. In the end I do love Emily and Wendell together as a couple but the suddenness of proposing marriage (even if Emily makes him wait for an answer instead of saying yes right away) made the book a little less perfect to me. Final rating: ★★★★ 1/2

Starting playing Temtem yesterday and now that I’m used to it it’s really fun! Been keeping an eye on it for a while but was trying to avoid spoilers for the critters and plot so I’m almost going in blind. The tems really do remind me of Neopets though

hey so what happened in the plot? is kaia the darkest faerie or some shit? she jhudora? whats goin on?

So you mean to tell me they introduced one (1) Asian faerie and then made her the villain

OMG LOOK AT THIS GUY I LIKE HIM

Hey yall just a heads up but like, if you don’t have a sophie’s magic hat, get one, it completely blocks all of the wraith’s attacks so like, pretty useful if you ask me

i think neopets v2 and volcano mystery are my favorite neopets plots, actually. no, it's not because they paved the way for how plots would become going into the "golden age" (~year 6 until faeries' ruin - i'd say this is the period with the fan favorite plots), i actually think they were THE peak.

1. they were complex and impactful. sure, staff competitions are fun (ski lodge murder mystery is such a good read), but petty. then again, viacom era plots were complex too. however...

2. neopets v2/volcano mystery stories didn't feel like they were happening DESPITE players' involvement. like, guy getting the girl has nothing to do with users. i don't think there is a timeline in which TNT allow maraqua and meridell to completely lose. got me? i think TNT did a good job in at least tricking me into believing that users could actually fail to solve the puzzle, and our failure would turn neopia into something completely different.

3. the way out there solutions and that 'metamodern' edge of the old internet. it was required of the users that they have both lore knowledge and medium awareness. the source code thing sure was a gimmick that had ran its course, but i just don't think minigames, combination puzzles and trial-and-error stuff that you'd get right eventually were better methods to replace that. spoiler: i actually liked the last chapter of the altador plot - wish we didn't have the guides to follow (and that the rest of the plot wasn't such a snoozefest).

the solutions are also very hilarious in hindsight. asking sarah the zafara for 'help' just ages better than any battledome step.

those plots just have that pure ARG quality that later plots failed to replicate

———  BASICS! ♡

NAME:   Rachel.  PRONOUNS:  she/her/hers ZODIAC SIGN:  cancer sun, virgo moon, scorpio rising   TAKEN OR SINGLE:  single

———  THREE  FACTS! ♡

I can embroider, crochet and I’m learning how to knit. 

I once got into an argument with Gail Simone on twitter and asked her to define fridging (which she coined) if Vanessa from Deadpool 2 wasn’t fridging, but Elektra Natchios was after she condescendingly told  me “i think you know the difference.” I was like NO. because if “dying to make guy sad, comes back tho” isn’t fridging then how do you justify  having Elektra on the list of fridging examples??? IT’S THE SAME DAMN THING. She never moved on to define it, citing spoilers.

The first anime I ever watched was Sailor Moon, it made the weeb I am today. 💕

———  EXPERIENCE! ♡

I’ve been on tumblr since way too long. Um, 2011 or 2012. I distinctly remember liveblogging the ‘12 presidential election as Lois Lane. But she wasn’t my first blog so at least since ‘12. Before tumblr, I did role playing boards, including modding a few. Before that I did one on ones on skype, and aim. And before that, in the dark days ... I’m going to embarrass myself and admit to writing on neopets. 

———  MUSE  PREFERENCE! ♡

tragedy girls. end of list. 

——— FLUFF / ANGST / SMUT! ♡  

FLUFF:  I love writing fluff, I kind of like slice of life soft moments. Granted those threads don’t last long for me, because you kind of wind up with almost no where to go a lot of times. But gosh those moments, I could still write a million of them.  ANGST:  I also love writing angst. I write it fast, and I can write a lot for it. I sometimes cry  while I’m writing it. I generally like it balanced out with the above because too much of any good thing really can spoil it right? SMUT: i tend to need to be in such a specific mood to write it that honestly it’s better to just fade to black these days.  PLOT / MEMES:  I’m good with plotting, I’m good with winging it. Either works. I usually start with winging it and then move into plotting. As for memes. I love them, they’re a great way  to get starters out of me, without me having to think up starters. 

tagged by: @silvcrreaper ( thank you! )  tagging: @wasworthy, @astranovus, @cosmicacy, @insidemyblood, @moonsentinels

* guidelines .

*   >   SIOBHAN / 22 / PST   .

my name is sio . im 22 years old and i use he / him pronouns. if im not here you can probably find me on my hunny @janeives. my ims are open to anyone and my disc is available upon request. ive been writing about 12 years and started on neopets.

*   >   BASIC SHIT   .

this blog is an independent, private blog for max mayfield of the netflix original stranger things. i am not at all affiliated with the show, netflix, s.adie sink, the d.uffer brothers, or anything in between. i do not claim to own the character max. this blog is for my personal enjoyment

this blog is not spoiler free. if you haven’t seen the show and intend to i suggest not following. during season drops i tag for a week after the premiere.

i track the tag #MADTOO

oc / canon / au / crossover friendly and highly plot driven

*   >   SHIPPING & RELATIONSHIPS   .

max is thirteen years old. shipping will be of lighthearted nature and secondary to development of her character and other relationships. pre est friendships are a - okay. chemistry is key!

this blog is sfw. do not send me nsfw content or you will be blocked.

*   >   FORMATTING   .

i don’t care how you format, it’s all writing to me! i use 40x40 size icons and my blog will be a mix of formatted and unformatted. i generally dont format one liners because it looks awkward. sometimes i dont format because im lazy.

if you need me to use regular size font i’d be glad to, just let me know!

*   >   DRAMA & CALLOUTS   .

i do not reblog callouts, but i do read them.

i would never vague someone i follow, and i rarely do at all.

im extremely dupe friendly! duplicates are welcome to follow me. if i see someone slandering a duplicate of any blog or attempting to sway someone from making their character, i will soft block.

with that said if i see you take something of mine i will call you out on it. this is not a resource blog and i’ve had plenty stolen in the past.

personal, bot, and nsfw blogs will be blocked

if you have a problem talk to me! :^)

*   >   TRIGGERS & TAGGING   .

general triggers are tagged based upon common sense. if you see me slip up on a tag, let me know so i can make sure no one else is made uncomfortable on the dash. if you need me to tag a trigger let me know. my tagging format is #/TRIGGER

*   >   INTERACTIONS   .

I WILL NOT INTERACT WITH ANY BILLY BLOGS. i do not follow billy blogs. if you are a billy and follow me i will block you.

i do not tolerate bigotry of any kind. i do not interact with rule!63 blogs.

howl-o

I wanted to add on to our hello post with my own stuff just in case - My name is Mod Werelupe but you can also call me Kai. My main blog is @were-kaiju (so if you get a follow from a blog that seems out of the blue for your fresh Neo content it is just I). My Neopets username is LupeOverlord (are you surprised).

I have never felt welcome in the Neotag because I am Awkward and I don’t know how to make friends (and our literal first anon on this blog was basically telling me to Not Have Fun which was disheartening) - but I am prepared to try to shove myself over here again with my fellow Mods. If you ever have questions about one player battledome stuff I am your Lupe. I like to read, and so do my fellow mods, so if you wanna just like...drop stuff in our inbox about characters just like...go ahead and do it. Drop a whole story in there I’ll read it. Also feel free to ask all of us questions here; just remember if you don’t specify any one mod we’ll probably all answer.

I tag all my personal posts as: Werelupe Barks and I will make small announcement posts for any site related events so you can blacklist things if you don’t want spoilers. [ Current Tag is : Werelupe Battle for the Plot we have now ]

I also like to make Really Dumb Jokes.

1, 4, 13, 18, 24?

1. Your first OC ever?

Mario! Except originally he was Eirio the blue eyrie on Neopets. I created him in 6th grade, revamped him a couple times during high school and college, and finally adapted him to fit in my current human plot.

He’s kind of a butt. I love him.

4. A character you rarely talk about?

Meet Lee. They’re a very minor character so I don’t talk about them much, but I love them. They’re very young and very white and very Midwestern and trying their very hardest to not be Problematic (spoiler alert, they’re totally problematic but they get better about it as they grow up). They’re a bit of a parody of my younger self.

They’re part of me and Tree’s little online roleplay squad, and their signature character is a court dancer named Kostume/Kossi who is, in fact, a very Problemetic old character of mine.

Their best friend is Imani, who is kind of the mom friend/voice of reason in their relationship. She’s very protective of Lee because they’re the baby of the group, but she also puts up with NONE of their nonsense. She’s the one who ultimately is like “Okay here’s a website full of info about Romani history. Go fix your character.”

Eventually Lee and Imani collaborate on a webcomic when they get older (Imani writes, Lee illustrates).

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs?

DO I EVER. Here, have a list. I’m not even gonna dig up links, there are too many and I am tired:

Lirpa (benevolent prankster)

Mo (literally thrives on chaos)

Mario (RUDE)

Arguably CC and Sofía (but not intentionally)

Samphire (RUDE, Mothcat Edition)

Hawthorne (rude ZOOM)

Ruben (manipulative butt)

Talia (tiny messy child)

TCBC (best/worst role model)

Arguably the rest of the mothcat pirates

18. Any OC crackships?

HMMM I think the closest I have to a crackship is that Kye and Pulse canonically dated. Briefly. VERY briefly. It was brief but intense.

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?

Oh, definitely Kye. I always feel like I need more trans Muslims in my life (it’s lonely being so far away from the few friends who do share that intersection with me), and I would love to just... casually friend-snuggle with Kye and talk about the ocean. Though honestly, I wish I could just be irl friends with the entire Ahmadi-Engelmann family because Aqui and Zee are also precious darlings who I would love to spend time with.