#((I love writing fucked up stuff like this))

[kelocitta]

In honor of the @rw-ship-showdown I wanted to write about Artihunter as someone who jokingly slapped them together pre-downpour and still thinks they are actually very compelling. Just not in the super soft love wins kinda way (Although I get why people like that more) And the only way I know how to do that is talking too much so heres a far too long slug essay-

Obviously the slugcats don't offer a ton of characterization but theres not nothing to work with. Their stories, whether by their roles in it or the overarching themes do provide a backbone to work with. Even gameplay itself can provide a bit. (for some more than others) Hunter, to me, is ultimately a story about selflessness. The goal is to revive Moon, which is very much an act of kindness from both Hunter and NSH. But the weight of that action is much more significant for Hunter- Hunter is deeply sick. They're on the clock, and for all their skill in combat none of that will ultimately help them to survive longer than their body can hold out. Moon is a close friend of NSH but that means little Hunter- Hunter really gets next to nothing out of helping them, and ultimately pays quiet a bit spending their limited time alive fighting to deliver that neuron so that someone else can live.

To spend ones limited days on helping another, in a game that very much stresses the unwavering cruelty of the world and nature- is pretty notable. (And you could even say that Hunter being the Hardmode of Rain World adds another layer to this)

And then we have Artificer. A storyline that very much stands out to people as more… villainous (so to speak) than the other slugcats. Artificer's story covers a lot of things. Trauma, violence, revenge, etc. Revenge is a bit of a selfish desire- That need to see someone hurt as they have hurt you. A punishment that ultimately does not fix whatever harm was done- but feels good to see because you were hurt and now those responsible share that pain.

Artificer's actions are founded in that need for revenge, their pups killed for overstepping boundaries they didn't know existed. Is it not fair for them to be angry at that, to punish the scavengers for their violence with their own? Why should the scavengers ever be forgiven when they and their pups were not? And that's how you get that loop- Harm for harm over and over.

The original action has been lost in a spiral of violence for violence. And here stands Artificer- their very spirit scarred. Not just because they sought revenge, but because they never ceased trying to scratch that itch for violence as an answer. Artificer only has two paths for their story- killing the scavenger king (Someone who, really, has little to do with the original 'crime' of the scavengers, but represents an important individual to them- as did the slugpups to Artificer), locking themselves as karma one for good and spending the rest of their life chasing creatures that no longer even fight back in a warped sense of closure- or to dissolve themselves in the acids of the void sea because they're too far gone to find any real peace.

They can't meaningfully recover from that state, not alone, twisting in on themselves. Even if they halt their actions, they've been using violence as a feeble defense against their own pain- violence that no longer has any real direction or basis. Artificer gets no real closure from killing the scavenger king. All they can do is continue the cycle, or try to scrub it away. No real peace in a prison of their own making. So you have a creature, who even with a strict timer on their life- a body that will crumble to disease, spends its last bit of time on saving another. And another who was so caught up in the pain of loss that were eaten alive by their own anger, poisoned their own soul on such a deep level even self-proclaimed gods have no solution for them. What peace can they offer each other? For Hunter, its only a fleeting moment of happiness- of selfish love, before their own body fails them. A bit of indulgence in something for themself. For Artificer, its a single, comforting thread to ground them again, something tangible to protect and care about again. But thats a thread that will ultimately be snapped under the cruel indifference of the world. Hunters timer will tick down regardless of if it takes another with it. Its a tragedy- its doomed to end badly. Whatever good it offers to either of them to find each other will only provide the fleeting comfort of a band-aid that will be ripped away too early. But all that can be worth indulging in anyway, if only for the moment. It doesn't change the ending, but the ending was never going to be happy. Its can so yuri

#rain world #rw shipping #tagging that just cause this is explicitly about that even though I usually dont do shipping stuff #with that said i dont even think this particular interpretation of a possible dynamic needs to be romantic its just kinda #about companionship in general. companionship thats going to absolutely shred an already unstable slug emotionally but thats #the point. friendship and love in spite of the unavoidable ending #just noticed this is like 80% theme analysis and 20% 'these go together just trust me' #but also theyre both girls because i want them to and also because im channeling hornet from hollow knight #who made me so deeply ill that my rain world tags still havent outcompeted my Hk tags because i drew her so much. so so much. #hunter is hornet coded to me and artificer is like if angela and gebura from lc combined into a deeply fucked up ferret #also i did tag the poll because they kinda inspired this but also. i wasnt gonna put all this out here WITHOUT a readmore thats embarassing #but i guess this is propaganda for a ship already seen as popular but like... idk i think theres something to it even as someone #who did literally slap them together originally because they were both red slugcats i considered girls. predownpour so we didnt have anythi #anyway hi tag readers i have so much work to do im being bad by writing about gay slugs. i need to get myself together #its so late this might just be nonsense bwaaaaaaa

[aroaceleovaldez]

non-exhaustive list of canon powers Nico di Angelo either has shown or is heavily implied to have:

Shadow-travel

Manipulation of shadows/darkness (also possibly use of shadows as a pocket-dimension a la Magicians using the Duat in The Kane Chronicles)

Becoming intangible/shadows

Complete control over skeletons/bones (dead or alive, including summoning, reanimation, and/or changing shape of them) and being able to sense their presence

Summoning, reanimating, commanding, and dispelling the dead/undead (Skeletons, zombies, ghosts, etc & varieties) and being able to sense their presence

Ability to understand/communicate with the dead/undead and potentially other beings of the Underworld

Inherent complete comprehension of Latin

Ability to perceive the usually unperceivable/possibly look upon a deity’s true form without repercussion (at least moreso than the average demigod, though possibly is restricted to chthonic beings) (ex: Tartarus, potentially also interacting with his parents, etc)

Interacting tangibly with ghosts (implied to be a Ghost King thing rather than a Hades/Pluto thing)

Partial or complete immunity to different effects of the Underworld/things within (can consume food/drink of or in the Underworld without repercussions, effects from the Lethe wear off over time instead of being permanent like usual for mortals, etc)

Astral projection/”Walking in dreams”

Dream manipulation and projection (Sending dreams to others, etc.) (presumably includes sharing/projecting dreams with others) alongside inflicting sleep upon others even from a distance.

Illusions

Manipulation of emotions/aura that inflicts specific emotions on others (ex.: radiating fear/death onto enemies)

Projection of emotions and memories onto others (can be so forceful it causes physical damage like a shockwave)

Geokinesis (all forms but also specifically generating black marble) (presumably also specialized control over precious gemstones & non-paper currency)

Temperature manipulation (seemingly only lowering temperature)/creating frost)

Control/manipulation of souls, including living beings (ex: ripping out Bryce Lawrence’s soul)

Perceiving/reading/judging of souls (most likely also a Ghost King thing over Hades/Pluto thing, but possibly both)

Converting living into dead/undead, aka instakill (ex: disintegrating monsters to bone with one touch)

Lowering or manipulation of own vitals (breathing, heart rate, etc)

Death Trance/pseudo-hibernation (possibly also general control over states of consciousness at least for self, in combo with control over vitals & dreams)

Sensing death (impending or when it occurs, sometimes receiving dreams/visions of it occurring)

Able to sense other children of Hades/Pluto (potentially also other chthonic beings in general/able to identify based on sense alone) and also just living beings in general, such as mortals (possibly via souls).

Improved navigation underground/in the Underworld and ability to traverse restricted or normally unnavigable parts of the Underworld

Enhanced strength/abilities when in the Underworld

Inherently unnaturally quiet (possibly able to silence sound on a designated target)

Hiding/shielding self from being perceived (seemingly related to shadows/silence)

#pjo #riordanverse #nico di angelo #long post // #MY BOY IS OP AS FUCK and i love this about him #so many of these are so underutilized #when will Nico get to use his geokinesis again #we only see him make marble once in BoTL and then never again #based on that he should theoretically be able to do everything Hazel can do. which also implies Hazel can do everything he can do #let Hazel summon a skeleton for once and Nico hits somebody with a rock cmon #also i still firmly believe Nico should get to turn invisible #we've seen him become intangible. his dad's notable item is a helm that makes you invisible. let him turn invisible. #but yeah big 3 kids are op. look at nico go. and this is just physical abilities not including stuff like Annabeth being smart #or cabin 7 kids being good at music or whatever #presumably for Nico/Hazel it'd be like a penchant for diplomacy and legality-related things presumably #and i like to hc he has a personal inherent knowledge bank of everyone who has ever died in his lifetime - just details about their deaths #mostly anyways and then like basic facts about who they were/next of kin/etc #so they can tap into that at any time and be like ''hold on lemme look this person/their relatives up real quick'' #i usually like to write that as how Nico confirmed what was up with Jason when they first met #he just kind of squinted at Jason and went ''okay. hm. who are you next of kin of? Beryl - OH YOU'RE THALIA'S BROTHER''

[rakiah]

Aside my current LV comic, I also work on another LV story and here its setting via some Ship meme ✨

#twisted wonderland #vil schoenheit #leona kingscholar #leovil #ship meme #that was so fun to do esp the THINGS #I LOVE doing that kind of stuffs #so relaxing #not like planning the story #which I want to write #why am I doing this #they fucked up my brain #I can’t go back to a normal life anymore

[fruitsofhell]

Yall, its time to ramble about visual/environmental storytelling cause this is silly article is driving me insane.

I won't argue for if the game should have had more constant and involved cutscenes like Robobot or Star Allies, but what I will say is that this game is VERY rich in story through the world design. The Forgotten Land as opposed to say the Land of the Sky in TD or the entire galaxy of Star Allies is like, DROWNING in writing and narrative. It builds so much mystery and intrigue through the theming of every world and even individual levels, with exploring both how the people of the land originally lived and how it's being reclaimed by nature and the animals.

I think the closest things maybe is Robobot and Halcandra in RTDL, the former having great little designs that key you into WHAT Haltmann is doing and what makes it so toxic. Halcandra though is the ultimate grand-daddy, the contrast between it and the Lor, and Egg Engines and Dangerous Dinner is full of theming and clues about the nature and history of the planet. AND THAT IS STORY, THAT IS WRITING! Especially when compared to say Star Allies, where most of the levels of the levels are just ye average Kirby themed fluff with little to say about the Jamba or the state they've left the galaxy in. But when you play through the casino levels of Robobot, as well as delightful theming and level design, you see that Haltmann is erecting literally the most predatory entertainment centers imaginable. When you step off the sleek futuristic Lor into the scrapyards and wastes of Halcandra, you get fun intimidating final worlds, and a good grasp on *why* the people who made the Lor aren't around anymore, and may even start questioning why Magolor made such a great fuss of dragging you to this horrible place. Music is also deeply important to this storytelling. Each of the factories/towers erected in ever world of Robobot's theme is a remix usually of themes related to older mechanical levels, subtly clueing you into where Haltmann go their technology from. Outside the Lor rather than the comfortable motif of Green Greens is this almost comically suspicious and disoriented theme once you're stuck on Halcandra and returning to Magolor with more doubts about his words. The final level inside of the volcano house a theme that is teasing the twist to come, and the theme for fighting Landia before the big reveal is less triumphant, and more majestic and pensive. Possibly trying to evoke more hesitance than confidence, even if most people wouldn't catch on to that on a first run.

But the cooler thing, is that while Robobot has this cool theming at key levels, and RtDL does at the end, this type of shit is pervasive ALL throughout Forgotten Land. Every world and nearly every level is a unique, well thought-out set piece! You get to see abandoned towns, cities, malls, stores, factories, resorts, and an amusement park, each which serves as more than just a fun location, but a clear picture of the world and the state its in. This intent is made clearer through the music and tone that goes out of its way to not highlight the destruction of these areas but their beauty, wonder, and mystery through the eyes of an clueless animals and our favorite pink alien. The abandoned Alivel Malls theme is a track as upbeat and peppy as what must've played over it's speakers in it's hayday, because the hustle and bustle breathed back into it by the animals and Kirby just exploring this mysterious complex is just as lively. The theme of the Everbay Coast is peaceful and sunny despite the Holine ruins because it's as part of the scenery to the animals and Kirby as the picturesque palms and sands. And Wondaria!!!!!!!!! OMG WONDARIA WHERE TO EVEN BEGIN WITH EVERY FUCKING LEVEL AND THEME IN WONDARIA!!! THIS IS WHY I CAN'T TAKE THAT CLAIM SERIOUSLY - y'know when I cried at Forgotten Land? In world 3. Not because of a cutscene or a line of dialogue, but just from the sheer emotion the setting evoked in me. The sweet, laid-back, starry-eyed wonder that it expressed from Kirby mixed with my own sense of nostalgia being aware of what that place was, and how beautiful it was to see it rediscovered and adored by Kirby and the animals of the Forgotten Land. It evokes such a strong feeling of bittersweetness, of existential dread comforted by the knowledge that the simple joys and memories we create places like amusement parks to share will continue on as long as there is life in the world. And unlike some of my musings about past games, this was explicitly intentional. What truly brought the tears to my eyes was remembering an interview where the devs were explaining how they were trying to keep the tone light and Kumazaki said specifically they wanted to evoke peace and beauty rather than loss.

LIKE THIS IS WRITING! This is storytelling, this is intention. It's just subtle, but not at all unimportant, and it ties into the more overarching plot. It raises the question constantly of where the people went that is answered by Forgo, and expresses the dichotomy between the simple innocence of the animals compared to the ambitions of the people who abandoned them and that is now possessing their leader. It creates stakes for Elfilis and Forgo's intentions to destroy everything so beautiful and pure about the current world, but as it absolves the current world of guilt, it puts into perspective JUST HOW LONG Forgo must have been locked away that things changed so much. And as softly as the exploits of the original people are portrayed by the game, knowing their treatment of Eliflis and Forgo as a thing of entertainment and tool for innovation is sickening placed in contrast with it. Like back to Wondaria, the way it shows how much space travel must have pervaded the imagination and escapism of the people either before or after Forgo's arrival is insanely smart. And it gives me chills in the best way seeing Kirby run around images of cartoon aliens from a civilization who would never meet him. Of Kirby, Elfilin, and Bandana sticking their head into a cardboard cutout of an astronaut meeting an alien, with the text "wish you were here" above in a script they don't even understand. A SCRIPT THE WRITERS MADE FOR THIS GAME SO THAT THEY COULD ADD MESSAGES LIKE THAT INTO THE WORLD FOR KEEN PLAYERS TO NOTICE AND MAKE CONNECTIONS. Like it's insane. The dedication the Hal Labs has to stuff like this is maddening! It's so sweet and heartfelt and crafty, I'm so pissed off how little respect it gets because people don't understand visual storytelling!!!!! Saying Forgotten Land is light on story is preposterous, it might just be one of the most finely crafted stories the series has had to date, and is just a really solid piece of science fantasy writing in general honestly. It is packed with environmental storytelling that drives me Up The Fucking Wall, Man.

#kirby #kirby and the forgotten land #katfl #elfilis #forgo #kirby lore #shut the heck up #media analysis #GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH (i love kirby) #im in my “writing is more than text” essay warrior era #this is part of me collecting stuff for a bigger essay though :3c i just got so distracted by this take #also i started this cause i though this article was from a bigger outlet than it was #so now i feel like my intensity is unjustified but idrc cause as i said: warrior essay era #OO ALSO I MISSED TALKING ABOUT THE LATER WORLDS #THE CITY IN WINTER HORNS FEELS LIKE A BIOME THE DELAPADATED RESORTS OF WASTES ARE NOW OASES IN A DRIED UP TROPICS- #-AND THE FUCKING CITYSCAPE OF REDGAR FLOODED WITH LAVA IS LIKE ITS OWN PART OF THE MOUNTAIN ITS SO BEAUTIFUL #its a fun twist on the typical final lava world that also gets to do double duty with evil industrial looking shit ARGFDSH so cool #tag talking

[tangledinink]

I'm here, as always, to deliver content no one asked for <3 Teenage Mutant What Now Yoshi Scar Ref

#im writing a bunch of flashback stuff for him right now #in which i honestly kick him a bunch #and im just rotating him in my brain #i love him #hes kinda fucked up #i want him and his children to be happy #and i will make it happen #we're writing like the therapy and processing trauma chapters #rottmnt #rottmnt human au #sorrywhatnowau #fidgetwing #tmnt #rise splinter #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #hamato yoshi #lou jitsu #rise hamato yoshi #semi nude #ig? #i feel like i should tag it w something

[m1d-45]

(what about me?)

summary: even gods get lonely, it just takes them a bit longer than most. but when it hits, it hurts, and hard.

word count: 1.1k

-> warnings: major spoilers for mondstat archon quest, mentions of wine, little guy is sad and alone about it :(

-> gn reader (you/yours)

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3 || @shizunxie || @boba-is-a-soup || @yuus3n || @esthelily || @turningfrogsgay

< masterlist >

starsnatch cliff is empty more times than it isn’t.

it was a common destination for couples, the silence a welcome break from the bustle of the city of freedom. the stars up above were unblocked, bright, the full rotation of constellations visible by just tilting one’s head to the sky. two majors, twin sets of stars, the three minors orbiting, staring down, watching. the same form, night after night, a bard in green driving away the aspiring couples often enough they learnt to stop trying. a body is there, physically occupying the space, but with how little is being done, the cliff still feels empty. the stars watch, seeing all, as the same body comes and sits, as the same eyes turn to the sky, vacant with memory.

venti didn’t know which constellations were in rotation—he did, that was a lie, he knew every single one and their owners—nor how long they’d be up—liar, liar, liar—but he watched the sky anyway, spinning a cecelia in his hand. the stem was worn, some of the juice clinging to his fingers, but he didn’t set it down. to the left, to the right, the six petals twisting outside of his field of view.

the god of freedom found himself coming back to the same cliff every night, sometimes leaving the angels share earlier to get there quicker. he walked, picking a cecelia as he did, and sat in the same spot at the peak of the cliff.

was he truly free, he wondered, if the stars kept calling him back?

(he knew he was. it was his choice to return, his choice to stay until the sun rose, to take naps in the afternoon to make up for the sleep before coming back, back, back, night after day after night)

the galaxy streaking its way across the sky, blue and purple and greens mixing and blurring, broken only by the bright shine of stars. planets, all locked in their own orbit, worlds he’d never be able to see, all within his sight yet all out of his grasp.

his eyes fell on a star at random.

who lived there, he wondered? what was beyond the atmosphere he knew? how far was the next planet? was there even intelligent life? surely, there must be—you wouldn’t create only one planet with life on it, right? you’d create many races, aliens he couldn’t imagine, all created to thrive on their world and serve under you.

(were they treating you better? had you exited your resting world already, and found another planet to keep you occupied? was teyvat not enough for you? you… you’d tell them if they weren’t doing enough, right? you’d say? you wouldn’t just leave them in the dark, right?)

he wondered how far away you’d gone. he remembered you—of course he did, your visage was engraved in his mind, miles deep and never to erode—and your last moments on teyvat, how you’d promised the archons that you would return soon. that you wouldn’t be far.

of course, ‘far’ was relative. and what was time to a god? how long was ‘soon’ for you? how long would it be until he could be blessed with your presence again? the little of your aura that bled through your vessels wasn’t enough- it wasn’t, and he was horribly selfish for thinking so, but it wasn’t. not when he’d been able to lay his eyes upon your true form, not when he’d felt your skin beneath his as he led you through mondstat for the first time. the small glimpse of you that seeped into the air around your vessels may be enough to rest weary souls, but for a god?

you were the shining light of teyvat, always everywhere. traveling from nation to nation, occasionally visiting off-world but never for long, never, he never had to go without you for more than a year or two at a time, he never had to feel erosion start to sap at his life-

the stars grew blurry, and venti hastily wiped the tears away, continuing to search the sky.

he knew he was eroding. every god was. memories, resilience, patience, all of it fading. mortals (part of his mind flinched, but he was right, he was mortal, he could die) weren’t meant for the power of the divine, the gnoses grating against the walls of their soul. it was never a problem before, not when they had you, you to temper the flame of creation, you to brush your hand over a wayward god and breathe life back into their heart, you with your endless compassion, to accept what felt like overwhelming and discard it as trivial.

barbatos was eroding without you. every god was. the ley lines were acting up, the abyss growing stronger, the eons without your presence turning teyvat into a hollow husk. and yet, the pathetic little he discarded from your vessels had begun to heal it anyway.

why did you use vessels? you had to know it was easier to descend yourself, right? to let flowers bloom in your wake and the breeze brush grass from your clothes, to tuck ei’s hair behind her ear and let empathy back into her mind. your vessels did a lot, but they could not manage all- murata, focalors, the tsaritsa and her wretched fatui- you could fix it all, all with a blink and a smile, a gentle hand across the earth to sew it at the seams.

he was being idealistic. he knew he was. and yet, he could not help but to wish—wish, he wanted to laugh at the irony—that your return ‘soon’ would be within his lifetime.

he wanted to see you again. he wanted the scars across his soul to heal, for his empty, cracked cup to be filled with you. he wanted to go back to how it was, when ei could smile freely and the tsaritsa wasn’t so cold, when the wind blew softly, carrying the sound of laughter. time only turned one way, yet he wanted to reverse it, to force the universe in rewind, to when his greatest worry was which song to play you at lunch. he wanted to bring a bottle of dandelion wine and watch as morax insisted upon osmanthus, as rukkhadevata rolled her eyes with a smile and suggested how about tea instead, it’s barely noon.

he was selfish. every god was, to an extent, but he…

as venti looked up at the stars, he couldn’t help but pray that one of them was you.

#genshin #genshin impact #sagau #self aware genshin #genshin sagau #genshin self aware au #venti #genshin venti #venti x reader #genshin x reader #sagau x reader #genshin x gn reader #i had this idea like ages ago and i was Real Sad yesterday so i decided to channel that energy #i’ve been in a real ‘(what about me?)’ mood recently so time to make that his problem!!!! #i have another venti angst i need to write too so. our fella boutta be Real Sad too. #coping 101 #oh god all the stuff in my inbox i need to go oh god oh fuck- #uhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHH #i wanted to take a picture for this and ended up with no picture and two hours gone. love that. #by no picture i mean i didn’t even get the nighttime photo i wanted #how is this 1k btw it felt like 3 #??? #hey stew remember that talk we had about commas……………… #title from the drafts: either ‘cold cold world’ or ‘(not ehe)’. might start leaving this in the tags of every post ngl

[puppetmaster13u]

Oh boi even more of One au in like 3 hours lol

I like to think that like how in @phoenixcatch7's Doll au there's gas versions of like cures and such in the batfam's gas masks since they don't need to breath when possessing the puppets right? I like to think there's an organic version of that with the meat puppet bodies, at least with Bruce, where the plates on his neck opens up into vents of sorts, pictured here with a few spikes removed for visibility reasons.

This gas could be some cures for like Joker venom & Fear gas and such, or it could also be sedatives, paralytics, could even vary between each member. (For example in the Cryptidverse Steph has Anesthetics on her claws, Jason has reflective powder that mimics embers/sparks, Cass has paralytics, etc). Honestly I am just brainstorming so this could definitely change lmao

I do like to think they start developing their own venom though, gotta' have those fangs & tusks for some reason lol

#meat marionette au #batman au #cryptid batman #cryptid batfam #body horror #batman #dcu #dc #Sorry Phoenix if I am spamming you lol #Honestly I feel like Bruce & Kane are the only ones with like big-ish tusks as though to show they're the fully grown ones of the group #Batwoman has set up shop in Bludhaven while Bruce usually sticks to Gotham me thinks but they still help each other out because family <3 #God I want to ramble about their language and body language and stuff so bad lol I love world building #I also totally haven't been writing a drabble for this for the past hour lmao #The caves have a favorite mortal and It's definitely Bruce lol #Okay but now I am thinking of how Bruce & Clark could meet the first time lol #Bruce can definitely sneak up on Clark if he wants to and it's probably terrifying lol #Something I will have to think about for later I suppose #What are the tunnels? Fuck if I know lol #The drabble totally isn't from Its pov tho lol (definitely not) #Tumblr don't eat my tags 2023 #Bruce definitely freaks out the first time he sees his second body #Not helped by the fact the first time he sees it he is piloting it and emerging from a flesh wall #All stumbly like a newborn deer (not helped by long limbs and body all differently proportioned & more limbs lol) #The secondary body's face is something between a human and an animal's muzzle #Dick deserves electric organs like an electric eel so he can shock people #Y'know what Cass deserves pitch black flesh & organs- like I am talking vantablack barely lets in any light black #Bruce is probably more wary about taking in kids what with the whole eldritch thing beneath the streets but really what choice does he have #All of them were already trying to do vigilante work & they'll end up killed if he doesn't help them :/ #He loves them but he *really* wishes the tunnels didn't take a liking to them as well because they're already traumatized enough #He wishes it didn't call to them like it did to him so long ago

[crescentfool]

i've been doing a bunch of tartarus runs in reload lately, and it got me thinking about how i miss certain ways FES's clunky gameplay can characterize minato… (ramble about the great clock mechanic + leveling up party members in reload vs fes under the cut)

when i got to yabbashah block in tartarus (block 3), i remember commending the developers for adding the great clock mechanic. it's a much more convenient way to keep party members at the protagonist's level- so when you think about p3 from the perspective of trying to make it easier for people to play, the mechanic succeeds in this respect.

but now that i'm in adamah block, and that i've done lots of my once-a-month tartarus runs… i think that i got a little too dependent on it, and the way that i played through reload feels like a vastly different experience from how i played FES.

in reload, my party's levels are very lopsided. minato, yukari, akihiko, mitsuru, and fuuka are all level 90+, meanwhile junpei and aigis are at level 79, and then… poor ken and koromaru are at 71 and 64 respectively. (i never got to have a great clock for them…)

meanwhile, in FES, my party's levels were much more evenly distributed and were at least level 90. i did all of this manually for every monthly tartarus run because i enjoyed having options available for the taratarus guardians and monthly operations.

with how i perceive minato, i feel that the way i played FES feels more in-line with his character than me dawdling around waiting for the great clocks in reload.

FES's gameplay loop left me with the very strong impression that minato has to work twice as hard as everyone else in SEES does. it makes sense because, yeah, he's the leader, but something about having minato run through tartarus multiple times with different groups of people just to make sure that they are adequately prepared speaks volumes about his character, to me.

and while the tired mechanic is present in reload to some degree, most notably with allowing you to freely raise your courage stat when you visit edogawa after school… the tiredness system doesn't hit the same way that FES does, i think.

the way your party members in FES will call it quits when they return to the entrance floor at tartarus when they're tired, versus minato, in spite of all his tiredness and sickness, still pushes through tartarus because it's his responsibility…. idk!!! i miss that! i feel like this really hammers home the difference between minato and the rest of SEES, how minato doesn't really see himself as a human with needs worth respecting as long as he's useful to someone.

i don't think that tartarus being tedious (in FES especially) is not what most people would describe as fun, and i can respect people thinking it's a slog. but, regardless of how it feels to play, it doesn't change that FES's gameplay loop is a fundamental building block in how i perceive minato…

of course, i do recognize that you can just opt to NOT use the great clock in reload (and it's great when players are offered the choice to not partake in mechanics)! i definitely think that if someone really wanted to, they could manually level up party members, but i do feel that kind of playstyle isn't necessarily "incentivized" to the type of people who are into playing games for Having a Good Time. it's kind of like… "why would you do that when there's a much more convenient option available to you."

in any case! despite my woes, i do want to emphasize that i'm glad that reload has a much more smoother gameplay loop than the original P3 did, because it does make the game more accessible to people. having played both FES and reload, it feels very strongly apparent to me how the core gameplay formula of persona has really been refined in the past 18 years (to think og p3 was 2006 and reload is 2024.. time flies!). and reload has made revisiting a story that i love so dearly much, much easier because the gameplay just bops!

at the same time, due to my "i miss characterization informed by weird and dated FES gameplay quirks" woes, i still think that playing FES is worthwhile. (really, i feel this way about all iterations of p3! i think it's worthwhile to see what each version and side media has to say even if it doesn't Land™ for you.) but i also understand why people wouldn't want to play it, so i will keep writing posts about things i liked from FES's gameplay because i'm still very fond of FES (especially in respects to minato. these mechanics are so telling about him!!!) 💪

#lizzy speaks #persona 3 #persona 3 reload #<- specifically mentions of mechanics. no added story content just tartarus talk #minato arisato #today on lizz life: lizz wakes up THINKING about minato for the NTH time and is compelled to write a tumblr post about it #tartarus in reload is excellent looking and fun but i keep thinking about what i liked about how FES characterizes minato so #here i am... LOL... with my 790 or so word ramble... im so normal about the blue boy #i needed to get my feelings out there somewhere i just could not stop thinking about HIM HE IS IN MY BRAIN 24/7 #me playing reload last night like 'minato would not fucking wait for a great clock to make sure that SEES is adequately prepared.' #and yet my sloth brain awaits the great clock... LOL gameplay convenience is not lost on me #i'm stuck in tartarus rn im grinding rubies and stuff trying to get equipment so i can throw hands with elizabeth its going to be fun #im still not done with this game i continue to be haunted by tartarus i fucking love that tower unironically #uh usually id ramble more in tags but. go read my post!! because i like analyzing FES gameplay mechanics!! i am full of passion and love!

[throwmethroughawindow]

anyways what’s stopping me rn from writing a fanfic where ProHero!Bakugou stumbles across fanfictions about him and he jokingly starts reading them to the rest of the heroes but he starts to get a little annoyed at how the writer portrays him so he goes out of his way to make an account (blackandorangeexplosionking) to comment on the fics like

“Dynamite wouldn’t do this”

“He can definitely lift more than 800 hundred pounds”

“He doesn’t smell sweet, he smells really manly and not like caramel”

“Dynamite doesn’t live in a fuckin’ penthouse, he has a nice house in the suburbs away from all these extras. He’s not like fuckin’ IcyHot”

And the writers like ???? Shut up these are my headcanons about him and you can’t change how I see him??? If you wanna write what you think he can / can’t do, what he does / doesn’t like, write your own stories???

And he gets upset and comments “I know him personally and he thinks these are dumb stories”

And writers like 🙄🙄✋🏽lol ok whatever loser

And Bakugou gets so riled up he stops commenting on writers stories and just starts sending them messages on every platform they have; telling them that they have false information and they have no idea who dynamite really is and writing him how they do is stupid and writer finally gets fed up and is like ok let’s meet up and fckn talk at a coffee shop or something since you feel so passionate about these fictional headcanons / stories about a prohero who won’t ever see them

Bakugou’s foaming at the mouth ready to rip into the writer so he drops the name of a hole in the wall coffee shop and says they have 30 minutes, he’ll be sitting in the back and so he shows up 20 minutes early to sit and rehearse what he’s going to say and tell them to take down their stories because theyre not accurate but then the cutest cutie pie (writer🤍) walks in with an annoyed look on their face and he’s lost for words (wow for once) and doesn’t know what to say to them.

Bakugous wearing a mask and a hat pulled over his ash blonde hair but his carmine eyes are sharp as ever as he assesses the writer; their eyes widening in recognition of the pro hero Dynamite sitting in front of them. It had been Dynamite all along reading the silly head canons and stories about himself, no wonder he made comments like that. And oh my god the fucking smut Jesus Christ. Embarrassment was evident on writers face but they sit down across from him and patiently wait for him to tell them everything they got wrong.

#mha bakugou #my hero academy fanfiction #my hero imagines #my hero acadamy #my hero fanfic #my hero drabbles #bakugou katsuki #katsuki x you #katsuki x reader #reader is a fan fic writer #Bakugou is lowkey into the stories until wrong facts come up #meet cute? / meet angry 😡 #Bakugou wants to show writer exactly what he likes in bed #should I make this a story? #I love this idea and wanna write stuff like this #Bakugou is a dickhead #Bakugou is dynamite #Bakugou being angry #oh well they probs fuck and end up together #I want him so bad #please #he’s so fucking cute

[dailykugisaki]

Day 113 | id in alt

It's Fushiguro's fault that he does it every five seconds. He lives and breathes mahoraga.

#dailykugisaki #jjk #kugisaki nobara #itadori yuji #fushiguro megumi #tokyo trio #low effort Fushiguro makes a COMEBACK #everyone knows he does that everyone just stares at him like a freak #in the middle of posting this i had to draw CRAZY Kugisaki n maki it was INSANE #ive been writing some stuff and i will continue to write because i love staring at Kugisaki's forehead #i hope the bantu knots look good #im experimenting with hairstyles bc i fuckin LOVE that shit #also picking up #Kugisaki isn't dismissive of Mai's struggle and pain its just that Mai is a bitch and uses the struggle as an excuse to harm others #she has canonly seen people get ostracized i mean her town was XENOPHOBIC AS FUCK #Kugisaki wasn't liked at all either she most likely fought just about everyone. only reason the townspeople liked fumi was because she was #wasn't like Kugisaki because Kugisaki fought back 10 times harder plus the whole murder thing y'know it happens #shes wack like that #she understand Mai and Maki so much and is low-key a hypocrite for judging mai but i think she knows that shes extremely self aware #probably the most self aware first year btw #this is some life tips from yours truly to the people that read these tags #do NOT argue with a political science major on human morality they will piss you the fuck off #i did. i ended up causin them to leave a chat because i was so mad they called something heinous “tame” #it happens. #unfortunately

[sleepsart]

I fucking love JWCC guys. I love that they took six characters, presented them as stereotypical athlete/influencer/rich kid/nerd/scared kid/bubbly kid, established them as such, and then decided to see how far a character could go while still remaining that character stereotype and also sometimes going into why a character might lean into that role, emphasis on the sometimes

#sleeps speaks #I'm. i fucking love this show so much. i totally get the criticisms n stuff but i loooove looking and the writing and thinking #abt why they were written like that #like rip to late s3 kenji they messed up there a bit but he got better #other than that i think they were pretty consistent with how the characters were written. or at least their choices made sense to me #idk i just like this show a lot

[omgeto]

Incoming... long lost love ex!geto who comes to see you for one last time—on the night that he's going to die.

#this is going to be angsty as hell but LIKE THEYLL BE FLUFF IN IT TOO #BUT ANGST #SINCE IT'LL BE SCORNED!READER #since geto just up and leaves you 10 years ago #the hate fucking will be insane #BUT SINCE THE LOVE IS STILLL THERE AND NEVER LEFT THIGNS GET ALL SOFT AND MUSHY #AND THE CONVOS THAT YOU'LL HAVE THE REMINISCING THE DISCUSSION ON WHY U BROKE UP #ALL THAT GOOD JUICY STUFF #DO U GUYS WANNA SEE THIS SHIT? #IDK WHY IM REALLY ASKING SINCE IM GONNA WRITE IT ANYWAYS #ITS GONNA BE MY BEST WORK YET #LIKE AN ACTUAL FINE CRAFTED PIECE OF WORK #THAT I PROOFREAD AND STUFF #AND LIKE PUT ALL MY EFFORT INTO #its the classic 'when he's mean to everyone but you' trope #or the classic 'you know I'll always love you even when you hate me trope' #and readers all like FUCKKK YOU DUDE #since yk I always have to make my reader a bit of a meanie #but then its the 'when you wanna hate him but you just cant' #so... yes #here's a big #★ — emptalkshit!

[prince-liest]

You inspired me to write! And I got up to 2k words for the first time ever when it comes to writing for myself... but I'm struggling a bit 😅 Do you have any advice about narrator POV and how you use your verb tenses? It's like I have no idea how you manage to "head-hop" while still being an omniscient narrator so smoothly & effortlessly. And verb tenses. if I write "was" one more time I might pop a gasket lol. any help is appreciated <3 have a good one!

First of all, that's freaking amazing! 2k is a lot, congratulations! That might sound weird coming from me considering how many words I put out, but I 100% remember the struggle of being newer to writing and hitting multiple thousands of words for the first time - I'm so happy for you!

Second of all: I actually write exclusively in third person limited POV, not third person omniscient! Even though I'm writing in third person, the narration is fully from the perspective of the point of view character, which I personally enjoy a lot because it allows for a lot of unreliable narration and also characterization through how their train of thought manifests (choppy, stressed, dreamy, etc). That's why when I'm writing from the point of view of character A, for example, any assumptions about character B's motivations are what character A is thinking, not an omniscient narrator informing you.

That said, you still have to head-hop specifically to write the actual visible actions and dialogue of the second character, and that's actually the most recent thing that I used to struggle with in writing specifically because I got most of my initial writing experience doing roleplay where I was only ever responsible for one character's thoughts and actions at a time.

Honestly, the main thing I can say is that it gets much, much easier with practice. When you start out, it will genuinely just take you longer to switch from the mindset of one character to another! I used to take character notes to put together little snapshot profiles of character headspaces to re-orient myself between the characters I was writing when I felt like I was getting lost. They included things like a few traits to keep in mind, behavior mindset, and snippets of dialogue that I thought were very representative. I don't use these anymore, but I do still do things like rewatch episodes or reread portions of books when I'm learning new characters to orient myself to their personality. It's like code-switching to me nowadays.

As for verb tense: I was a consummate Homestuck, so I started out writing in second person present tense, hahaha, and while I've adopted the third person POV (and believe me, this took adjusting), I've kept writing in present tense as a personal preference. I like it because it makes things feel more in-the-moment as they're happening, because there's less grammatical fuckery involved when describing the past vs the present, and just because I'm used to it. That said, past tense is more common and stands out less to people, and I think that you are finding all of your "was"s a lot more noticable than a reader would! People generally don't really notice the tense of what they're reading once they get into the flow of it.

#ask #personal #Anonymous #my writing #writing advice #I also tried to switch to past tense and kept fucking it up #like genuinely switching tenses halfway through a paragraph and not noticing at ALL #and unlike writing in second person POV it didn't seem like an actual issue wrt readability so I just stopped trying #long post #I hope this was at least a bit helpful! #I've honestly never written an omniscient narrator so I'm afraid I can't be much help with that #I'm too much of a sucker for unreliable limited narrators haha #I love how telling a narration can be about a character's mindset #also side note my oldest fic on AO3 which is a little Soul Eater oneshot from 2015 is in second person hahaha #A RELIC #(ofc I have some fantroll stuff on there as well but that's SUPPOSED to be second person)

[sophiethewitch1]

writing my first reader with self confidence but they are also passively suicidal so you know you win some you lose some

#sophie speaks #i just dont like writing mentally capable readers #i cant imagine a world where i am fully sane honestly #because i was ~born wrong~ (its really just level 2 needs autism) #i mean ive been fucked up since at least 9 years old so #i love the DSM 5 its such a funny thing. what do you mean there are people in my head and have been there for most of my life #thats crazy dawg #again with the tmi #i just really enjoy oversharing on tumblr #its not like im gonna tell anyone irl about this stuff #i already look enough like a serial killer #which i am not btw

[frecklystars]

☆ ̗̀💙 ̖́☆ maybe there’s a first time for everything ☆ ̗̀💜 ̖́☆

☆ ̗̀  drawn in November 2022   ̖́☆

#self insert #self shipping #tfp #transformers prime #megatron #tfp megatron #transformers prime megatron #💕 I want to be the one you remember 🖤💜 #maccadam #my art #the second she wakes up she denies it ever happened #but megatron has photographic evidence #she TRUSTED HIM!!! the vulnerability!!! the STUPIDITY 😍 #i doodled this i think when charlie's 'first time for everything' song came out #i dont remember. maybe i added the caption way later. but aughh godddd #charlie's songs!!!! are so fucking megakeri core!!!!! #i hate u i love u ur so stupid i cant get enough of u!! that kinda stuff!! #fluff is so rare and when its over its like it never happened bc arguments immediately ensue #its fun to write its fun to draw and i miss it. i miss megatron can u believe it #i would do anything to feel like this again #swear to god ill reclaim whats mine one day i dont care what it takes

[apoptoses]

Something that's been on my mind is seeing the idea that in order for smut to be valid to write it has to have a purpose. It has to say something about the characters, it has to serve as a tool for the plot, it has to have some deep meaning beyond the sex acts involved.

And honestly, that's not true no matter how much some very vocal people might insist that smut without a 'purpose' is just porn and porn is shameful to make and consume.

It's okay to write smut because you think the concept is hot. It's okay to write it just because you want to give your readers jerk off material about their favorite characters. It's absolutely, 100% fine to write smut for smut's sake.

And sure, you want it to be in character, you want to write it so that you can't just file the names off and replace them with anyone. But you can just write something because you think character X should fuck character Y in this very specific way and have that be the end of it.

Call it smut, call it porn, call it whatever. Write the stuff you want to write. You don't have to do literary gymnastics in order to make it 'valid' for anyone, and you especially don't have to make excuses to yourself to justify writing it in the first place.

#*grandpa simpson voice* back in my day we called it pwp and we tagged it that way and the people LOVED it #i fucking love writing smut and like yeah sometimes plot happens in the build up #but make no mistake about it #nine times out of ten i wrote the fic because i wanted to write the filth #the plot was incidental #and mostly for dirty purposes anyways to create anticipation #there's a reason i have daniel wracked with nerves in the build up to every thing i do #so that it's a release when he does give in and commit the act #but all that build up is 100% psychosexual in nature #anyways i feel sad seeing some people try to always insist their smut has a point so it's okay to write it or draw it or whatever #make the filth celebrate making the filth just go for it!! #anne rice did for four entire books!!! #and she wasn't ashamed and didn't need them to have literary value #on fanfiction #writing stuff