#Only got to explore this aspect of her character once awhile back with a friend

[sadwizardgirl]

My Campaign 2 Thoughts

Alrighty folks. We're here. We made it. I’m running on like, 3 hours of sleep and my coffee hasn't kicked in yet so bear with me if I ramble/don't make sense. I’ll take things by character I think? 

Once I finally typed everything I wanted out, I decided to put a keep reading thing. Its a long one I’m so sorry haha. But yeah, click on it if you want to hear someone’s tired ramblings about how much they love the Mighty Nein. Obviously spoilers below... <3

One last thing - I want to say thank you to everyone who I have interacted on here with. I would have never, ever thought that I would live blog Critical Role when I started watching it. And because I have, it makes me happy that I’ve found lots of nice Critters like me to follow, like, reblog, laugh and cry with all at the same time. You guys are really cool, so thanks for letting me be a small part of it all <3 

Molly/Kingsley - 

I’m honestly not fully shocked that we didn’t get Molly back after all that. I think Tal has said that Molly is gone and will stay gone. Maybe this is how Molly was when he first woke up, but we obviously didn’t see that part, and neither did Yasha. So honestly, the only people to know would be the people down at the circus. I’m personally okay with the differences in Kingsley and Molly but I like that Kingsley wanted to call Molly his brother at least and learn about him later on. Remember when Molly said he didn't want to learn who his previous self/selves were? The pirate life for Kingsley is --- interesting haha. I’m not hating it, I can definitely see a Jack Sparrow kind of vibe. I just didn't think Tal would go for a pirate type life for him. Thats all :) 

Cad - 

I’m also not surprised at what Cad chose either. It was interesting to see his whole EMPATHY routine with Trent. Thats been a side of Cad no one has seen. I know I’ve seen some people say that they were sad that after all this adventuring, that Cad would just chose to live at the Blooming Grove and never leave again. But didn't Tal say that Cad would take walks out of there and explore for segments of time? Like 6 months, then a year, then a couple years. I could have sworn he said that and that he would go visit his friends in those spans too. But I could have totally imagined it/took it that way. 

Veth- 

This totally makes sense. I was sad to see her go before the whole Trent thing, I would have loved to see her stand by Calebs side during it but I get it, She missed her family and they would see each other again anyway. I 100% would love if the M9 had a summer camp. Like, I’m just saying. That needs to be a one shot. I don't have much else to say other than I’m glad that this is the ending for Veth and nothing else. 

Yasha- 

Again, I’m super happy with this one. It makes sense that she would want to go see her wife and the whole Stormlord thing???? Fucking awesome. I’m glad that Yasha has finally found peace and love with someone and is content. Thats all I want for Yasha. I’m glad that Kingsley seeks her out to find out about Molly too. 

Beau - 

WOW. Okay. So not only does she help take down Trent but also her dad stuff? Fucking great! I’m so glad that Beau has gotten to this point in her life. Not only has she brought down corrupt people, but also learned to love throughout everything she's been through. I’m sorry, I with my tired brain can think of more good things but I’m just super happy about this. 

Fjord -

For some reason, Fjord’s ending made me cry. I don't know if its because its been awhile since we’ve gotten true Fjord lore stuff where Travis absolutely NAILS the roleplaying or what. But literally as soon as he raised his hand to say hi to Vandran, I started crying. He’s been looking for answers for so long and he finally got them. I think its very on brand that he just sailed out willy nilly knowing what happens but at least Matt was merciful haha. I think That plus his love for Jester and suggesting they find a place was so very sweet and totally them. I’m sort of glad that he left his ending so vague. Because imagine the sea one shots we can have with Fjord going to Darktow or finding Sabien once and for all etc. 

Jester - 

I’m --- I’m torn with Jester. I’m glad that Jester wants to travel more and see the world still and thats what she's doing with Fjord. I think I’m more of torn just because I’m so used to Jester being SO over the top with everything she does (in a good way) but then I guess that means she's maturing and growing up. I’m glad that she left her ending vague as well for the same reasons as Fjord. SIDENOTE: It’ll be interesting to see if any of this leads into the VM vs M9 show off and if there's going to be canon involved or what. 

Caleb - 

I left Caleb for last. Not only because he's been my favorite character all campaign long. But because most of the buzz is coming from his ending. I’ll preface this first --- I’ve never been an outright Essek/Caleb shipper. I’ve loved their moments together and am not against them in any shape or form. I’m just not one of the die hards shippers. Same with Caleb/Astrid/Wulf. 

BUT - With that being said, I’m very happy with Calebs ending. I’ve seen some people that are mad that he didn't do what he set out to do - which was take down the corruption. But Liam said that he sees that aspect of his life as a life long endeavor. So just because he takes up the teaching gig - which I’m so happy with btw; more on that in a bit- doesn't mean he stopped. You can root out the corruption from within and I think Caleb started to realize that was going to be the best way. I’m glad he didn't take the place of Trent. I think things could have gone horribly wrong even if he was at the top. Am I thrilled that Astrid is there? Not particularly no but its better than Trent. Caleb being a teacher makes so much sense. At the beginning of the campaign, Nott was always telling people that Caleb was the one teaching her the magic she had, plus the trading notes with Yussa and Essek over the years. It all leads to him teaching. Finally being the teacher --- the right teacher for the future generations of wizards. He was never going to accomplish that in Trents place. 

Now --- the elephant in the room, Essek. I’m 100% okay with this part of Caleb’s story. I’m glad that he did go back to Aeor and learn what he could. I think its what Essek said. That he wouldn't change his past because it led him to that moment with Caleb, but then still offered to help Caleb if thats what he wanted to do for himself. I’m happy that Caleb finally let go of the part of his past that kept his guilt so present. He’ll always remember his parents and what he did, but he's allowing himself to walk through that door and to start finally healing. Let me tell you how much I ugly cried when we finally heard what his plan had been all these years AND what that second book was that he never told us about. Liam O’Brien you poetic son of a bitch I love you so much. But damn did I ugly cry literally during that whole time. Okay sorry, now Essek. I think them realizing the age differences, being in the relationship for however long they were but then remained friends is so very much like both of them. They are both logical people. To me this makes so much sense. I think I’m in the minority here but it does. Essek will outlive the rest of the M9 so of course they realized eventually there was going to be this elephant in the room when Caleb grew old. I’d like to think Caleb wouldn't want the extra heartbreak on Essek when Caleb eventually dies, then the rest of Essek’s friends die on top of that. Liam said that this campaign, romance in any shape or form was not a priority and I think also that had a part to do with it. I’m glad Caleb just didn’t be alone for the rest of his life and only teaching. I’m glad he reached out to Essek and did that stuff, and then taught Luc. It’s far from the sad wizard boy who was ready to leave the M9 at a moments notice to be alone. 

Sorry for the rambling and VERY LONG post. oh my god I’m so sorry but it just kept coming. haha I’m very sad to see the Mighty Nein go. This campaign was the reason I got into D&D and where I fell in love with it. I fell in love with these nerdy ass voice actors and their characters. BUT it makes me excited for campaign 3 and the future of Critical Role. 

SIDENOTE: WHAT THOUGHTS DO YOU GUYS HAVE ON THE PROJECT THEYRE GOING TO ANNOUNCE NEXT WEEK HUH? I’m glad they mentioned that they aren't ready for Campaign 3 just yet, but Marisha made it at least seem that its on the horizon. I’m sure they want to take the break they deserve and have time to transition from their M9 characters to their new ones. so yeah anyway 

Thank you, Mighty Nein. Long may you all reign. 

#critical role spoilers #critical role #critrole spoilers #cr spoilers

[technoskittles]

Catradora fic rec list

I mentioned making one of these awhile ago and I’m finally sitting down and compiling some of my all-time favorite fics. I’ve read a lot (like, a LOT), but I feel like a few of those really deserve an extra shout out.

I’ll separate them between multi-chap and one shots, but other than that they won’t be in any particular order. I’ll also try my best to tag the authors here on tumblr if I can find them, but if not, just lemme know if you see your fic and I can edit this later.

I’ll also be including ratings/word count/trigger warnings/etc

(I’ll mostly be including common tw’s so please make sure you also read the tags for anything that may affect you personally! Also, if I miss any, please keep in mind that it’s been awhile since I’ve read some of these so I may not remember all of them!)

Key:

[E] - Explicit 

[M] - Mature

[T] - Teen & Up Audiences

[G] - General Audiences

And for the multi-chap fics:

(O) - Ongoing

(F) - Finished

(?) - Not finished and they haven’t updated in awhile so the author probably died

So let’s get started! (Get ready for a long post obviously)

Multi-chap fics:

1. upper west side by ceruleanstorm (F) [T] ~190,000 words

TW: past child abuse, alcohol abuse

@princessofgayskull

I feel like this is definitely one of the top must-reads for all Catradora fanfics. I know I’ve seen this on a couple different lists but I’m including it on mine as well because it really is just that good.

The chapters are lengthy (but in a good way!) and the story really takes its time to flesh itself out. The character development of the characters as individuals is beautifully done and wonderfully realistic. The pacing of the development of Catra and Adora’s relationship is also sweetly slow, a steady slowburn that invokes that deep-rooted yearning feeling mirrored by the characters themselves.

It’s a really clever premise that takes place in the modern world but implements the canon universe in the form of the book that Adora’s writing that ties back to her and Catra’s shared childhood. The way that aspects of the show were revamped into this fic are so creative and I just....ugh. LOVE.

This fic also has a oneshot compilation that takes place after the events of the final chapter which is currently ongoing and I HIGHLY suggest checking that out as well once you’ve finished this. 

The sister fic for those interested: she’s god (and I found her) (O) [T] ~40,000 words

2. The Devil Is In (The Details) by SeasInkarnadine (O) [M] ~58,000 words

TW: Graphic Depictions of Violence, child abuse, emotional abuse, use of recreational drugs, Major Character Death

@seasinkarnadine

This is a really great fic where Adora is an undercover cop who sidles her way into one of the largest gang syndicates to bust whoever killed Hordak, a big gang leader and drug trafficker, whose death was originally ruled as an accidental overdose. Her and Catra (one of the gang members) both know foul play was involved and work together to figure out the truth.

The dynamics between these two is so casual and hilarious but still has those gut-wrenching moments that really ground you and realize that their relationship is dysfunctional on a few levels. The exploration of Adora’s conflicting feelings towards Catra hurt in such a good way as she realizes that she does genuinely care for Catra, but also is aware that what she’s doing will eventually screw her over and land her in jail. It’s the best kind of underlying angst and I highly recommend it.

Another really great selling point that I particularly love is that Adora is deaf in this AU and the author really shows this in such a realistic and natural way that shows she really knows what she’s talking about. It makes the dynamic between the two even more interesting considering that Catra also knows sign language which give the two a lot of moments of mutual understanding that doesn’t extend to the other characters. It’s something that the two of them have that’s sort of just for them to be on that level of understanding and it’s so great.

Also, Morgan is just a great writer in general and I highly suggest checking out more of her stuff (her art too!). She’s one of the writers I’ve looked up to since my beginning days in the fandom and it’s still amazing seeing all the great stuff she puts out.

3. Skinny Love by Maychup (O) [M] ~100,000 words

TW: past child abuse

@maychup

Another staple of big fics in the catradora fandom but for good reason. This fic is a wonderful exploration of events taking place after S1 illustrating Catra & Adora’s relationship in a different path that the rest of the show takes. It focuses heavily on their past experiences with each other and how that affects their current situation being on opposite sides of the war. 

This fic is older, published just after S1, so canon divergence is an important aspect of its build. But the way the story is written is so beautiful and grounded that it’s still interesting even now knowing what really happens in the show. 

Their dynamic is kind of back-and-forth, with Catra figuring out what Adora means to her and vice versa and where the two of them want to go from that point. It has so many sweet moments and steamy ones as well (btw, there’s a lot of smut) and the exploration into each of the character’s pysches is so compelling and intriguing.

4. Faded With Feelings by yesimgay (F) [T] ~24,000 words

TW: recreational drug use

This was such a cute, short multi-chap fic. It’s a bit older but I think it’s still one of my top faves. 

A modern au, Catra & Adora are roommates post-college and trying to make their way in the adulting world. Catra has ADHD and smokes weed to help with that. One day Adora accidentally eats a couple of her edibles and cute shenanigans ensue. And that’s just the first two chapters.

The rest of the fic goes on to the girls figuring out their feelings for each other, especially Adora who, in this case, isn’t really sure of her sexuality. All-in-all, a really cute fic that’s a nice break from all the angst that typically saturates the fandom.

5. Chasing the Spotlight by holymountain (?) [T] ~20,000 words

This is an AU where Adora is hired to be Catra’s, a pop singer, bodyguard. There’s so many cute moments in this, though admittedly it’s been about 6 months since it’s last updated so be sure to keep that in mind.

6. we’ve been making shades of purple out of red and blue by darklady21 (?) [t] ~24,000 words

An “and they were ROOMMATES” au. In this one though, Catra and Adora don’t actually know each other and really only get to know each other over time. It’s cute and has a lot of interesting interactions between the two, but it hasn’t updated in about 7 months.

7. Tuning Out by FaiaHae (?) [T] ~2500 words

I actually really loved the whole concept of this fic but it hasn’t updated in like, an entire year so...only read if you’re okay with the fact that it probably won’t ever be finished haha

8. burnt sugar by jeserai (O) [G] ~11,000 words

@jeserai

Oh god YES this fic. The classic “fake dating” au except Catra is a rich kid inheriting a business who essentially hires Adora, a broke college student, to go on a date with her to this big business function. There’s not a lot to say about it other than that without giving too much away, but the fic is about halfway done at this point so it’s a pretty short read as of now.

Just be warned, it’s currently on a MASSIVE cliffhanger so if you wanna wait until it updates I totally understand lol

9. still waters by summerson (O) [M] ~28,000 words

TW: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, self harm

A “The Last of Us” AU. Personally, I’m not super familiar with TLOU because I could never get into the game myself, but this fic is so well done and the writing style is so interesting and well-executed that I still love this fic to bits. But obviously, for those of you who are aware of TLOU, you already know that this fic is going to contain quite the fair share of angst so be ready.

10. Whispering Dreams by dragonesdepapel (F) [T] ~7500 words

It’s been awhile since I’ve read this one so I don’t remember everything, but I do remember really enjoying the writing style and the construction of this fic. It’s a short read, but it’s totally worth it

11. please could you be tender by erce3 (F) [G] ~40,000 words

@figbian

please please PLEASE go read this fic. I’m actually begging y’all to go read this one I loved it so much it’s still one of my top 10 faves out there.

This fic is set in a modern setting where Adora & Catra were childhood friends and are in college and god it’s just SO. GOOD. The writing style and composition of the flashbacks with the present events is so beautifully done and organized and I really cannot hype this fic up enough GO READ IT

12. buried a hatchet (it’s coming up lavendar) by erce3 (O) [G] ~12,000 words

on the note of that last rec, I highly rec their other work which is currently in progress. It takes place after S3 but it’s an exploration on if Catra and Adora got trapped in the portal instead of Angella and FUCK this person is genuinely amazing go read their stuff

13. Senior Year by SimplyAbsolute (O) [E] ~98,000 words

@simplyabsolute

This is a really cute fic about Adora and Catra in their final year of college and I guess for me personally it really just hits hard because I’m also in my final year of college lol. But really, it’s a great fic and I suggest checking it out. It’s actually only got one more chapter left too so it’s almost done!

14. Assassinating Adora by Wicked42 (F) [T] ~13,000 words

@wicked-42

TW: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Jeez this fic was a real rollercoaster of emotions. I loved every bit of it. 

Basically, some people try to assassinate Adora and Catra stops one of them, but both girls are still inflicted by the poison and....it just gets crazier from there. Don’t wanna spoil it too much but this is a must-read for sure.

And this one may seem like cheating but I’m gonna plug one of my own multi-chap fics here

15. Pure Feeling (O) [T] ~30,000 words

TW: brief mention of sexual assault in Ch 5

This is a modern AU set after all the kids have been out of college for a few years. 

Adora and Catra were childhood friends but ended up drifting apart and falling out during their college years. Fast forward about 6 years and they run into each other again, except now Adora has a daughter and is struggling to balance her life as a single mother. Overtime the two girls work on rebuilding their friendship and somewhere along the way might even realize that they’re feelings for each other never really went away. But of course, like all things in life, this isn’t an easy process and they run into more than a few complications - internal and external.

One Shots:

(there’s so many of these I’ve loved so I’m really going to try and narrow it down to about 10. If yours didn’t make it, no offense! I just have WAY too many to include and this post is already so long haha)

1. The Interlude That Never Ends by FMLClexa [M] ~2500 words

TW: Major Character Death, brief mention of sexual assault

Okay I’m gonna be honest: If you ignore all the other fics on this list, READ THIS ONE. This is absolutely my #1 favorite without a doubt. It’s a soulmate/reincarnation au and it’s so wonderfully executed that I honestly cannot even begin to tell y’all how much I love this one. It’s old and one of the first fics I ever read, but it’s so timeless and excellent and I promise you won’t regret reading it. I know I’ve read this about a million times over.

It’s been a whole year and this has held my #1 fave position the entire time. READ. IT.

2. after party by summerson [M] ~2000 words

TW: recreational drug use

God this fic was so great I read it last night and I’m still in awe in how well it was written and the emotions it managed to invoke in me. My favorite scene is the part where Catra tells Adora “I love you” because it’s so raw and desperate and I vibed with it so hard. It’s really difficult trying to tell someone how much you love them with just a few simple words because they really just don’t convey how much you love them and it’s so frustrating and GAH this fic was fucking great please read it.

3. jigsaw by jeserai [G] ~2500 words

@jeserai

This fic is so great and I felt so warm inside reading it. Definitely read if you want sweet, slow friends to lovers burn.

4. Vicious by SeasInkarnadine [M] ~3500 words

TW: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Rape/Non-Con

I really highly recommend this one if you can get past the trigger warnings. It was so well written and very suspenseful with the juxtaposition of the timeline between current events and snippets of what had happened just hours before. But the ending is really sweet and the way that Catra cares for Adora after the whole thing squeezed my heart to pieces.

This is one I’ve read a few times over because of how much I love it. Def in my top 3.

5. Basement by spookyscaryskeletons [G] ~2800 words

This was such a great rendition of “Adora and Catra are forced to talk” and the emotions were raw and bleeding and I love the character portrayals. 

6. Coming Apart by Whorls [E] ~13,000 words (or ~6,000 words each chap)

@crazy-pages

Okay this fic technically has two chapters but I’m including it here in the oneshots because the chapters are identical in the sense of story but the only difference is that in chapter one Catra is a cis woman and in chapter two she’s a trans woman pre-op. Other than that the chapters are identical so it’s mostly based off which experience you would rather have while reading.

This fic was. So. Fucking. Good. Sen did such a fantastic job with both aspects of this story and I love it to bits and pieces. The smut in the beginning is delicious as can be, but then towards the latter half it absolutely sucker punches you with feelings but in a good way. I really, really fucking love this fic and I think it needs more attention than it initially got so I’m imploring you all to please go read this fic. It’s fantastic.

7. Seconds That I Cannot Replace by Mogatrat [M] ~7800 words

TW: child abuse, underage(?)

This is a really heartbreaking fic set before canon. It’s about all the times that Catra and Adora started a romantic relationship only for Shadow Weaver to come in and ruin everything by constantly erasing and resetting Adora’s memory. I still think about this fic from time to time. Give it a go.

8. Come morning light by dragonesdepapel [T] ~1800 words

TW: Major Character Death

Another one that’s technically two chapters but it’s the same events, just covers the perspective of each girl. Adora’s dying and asks Catra to stay with her.

Basically this fic ripped my heart out and I still think about it sometimes.

9. someone you like by caela [T] ~5100 words

oh fuck me yes this fic. A modern au where Catra sorta stalks Adora on instagram and accidentally likes an old picture. Fluffiness galore.

10. When You Came Calling by ActuallyMe [E] ~5200 words

TW: Major Character Death

A 1940′s Mob AU where Catra is a private eye and Adora married high-ranking mob boss Hordak...who’s just been murdered.

Really great one shot. Personally I would’ve loved to see more come of this but it’s great on its own.

And once again, this is cheating but here’s a couple oneshots of my own that I wanna plug real quick

11. hang tight (all you) [T] ~9200 words

Modern AU fic set when Catra and Adora are in high school. Adora struggles to come to terms with her sexuality in an discouraging environment as well as the fact that she’s had a crush on her best friend since middle school. Personally I think this was one of my best works and a lot of other people seem to have liked it too so yeah!

12. as my World d[ivides] [E] ~2500 words

TW: Rape/Non-Con, Underage

One of my darker fics, but still one I’m pretty proud of. Without giving too much away, Adora suffers from a trauma and engages in unhealthy coping mechanisms and Catra enables her because no one’s taught them any different.

#she ra #spop #catra #adora #catradora #she ra and the princesses of power #fic recs #long post #thanks for hanging in with me guys #but yes I highly suggest all these fics

[soloragoldsun]

Pride Month Recommendations- Days 9-18

No, I didn’t forget this! I just haven’t had the strength to do long-ass posts of this nature. Hopefully, things will be better when I switch shifts at the end of the month.

Anyway, I’m going to go through my Steam Library for this list...

9. Angels with Scaly Wings by Radical Phi is a dating sim/mystery/sci-fi game where you can romance a dragon. As you can probably imagine, it is an ideal game for me. You are an ambassador from a dying Earth who has been sent through a portal to a world populated by sentient dragons. There, you uncover a series of murders and get close to certain dragons while trying to save their world and yours. The characters are very in-depth with largely tragic backstories. Get ready for some feels. Your character is referred to by they/them pronouns, leaving their gender open to your interpretation. You can develop a relationship with all five dragons, regardless. It’s a wonderful game with great worldbuilding and incredible characters!

10. Coming Out on Top by Obscurasoft is a game that I willingly purchased TWICE. The first time was when it was still in development, which I almost never do. Even when it was incomplete, I got an amazing experience from it! When I lost access to my old email and the game came out on Steam, I bought the completed version. The premise is simple in theory: You are a college senior who has just come out as gay, and can romance one of several guys over the course of the game. What makes this game stand out is the likeable characters, the zany settings you can find yourself in, and the hilarious dialogue! Each romance is unique, and even the non-romanceable side characters are memorable. It has good sex scenes, if that’s what you’re into, and you can even customize things like facial hair on your character and the bachelors. There are even mini-dates you can go on if you don’t feel like playing a whole route. This game has it all, and you can easily get several hours of gameplay out of it. I mean, did I mention that I willingly paid for it TWICE?

11. Dragon Age: Origins by Bioware was a gamechanger for me, literally, as it heightened my standards when it came to games in general. To this day, it remains on my top five list of greatest games of all time. You play as a character who eventually becomes a Grey Warden, whose purpose is to defeat creatures known as Darkspawn and stop a Blight that is descending upon your homeland. How you go about that fight, who you choose as allies, and your overall actions in the world are up to you. You can play out one of several backstories for your character, customize your class, and, of course, romance one of four characters. Two of the romanceable characters, Leliana and Zevran, are bisexual. In later games, you get even more romance options, but I feel that Origins is the best game overall. I could play it again and again, and have done so several times. Also, it’s on Steam, which means you can buy it and all DLCs without dealing with the annoying Origin platform.

12. Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator by Game Grumps has been talked about so much, I almost feel like I don’t need to. I will anyway. It’s a game where you play as a single dad who moves into an area that, conveniently, also has a bunch of single dads. As the title suggests, you get to date the dads you meet over the course of the game. This game is awesome because, among other aspects, it’s super inclusive. You can decide whether your dadsona is trans or not, whether your daughter is adopted, whether your previous spouse was a man or woman... The characters themselves are wonderfully-developed and three-dimensional. There are also many Dad Jokes. Also, Damian is best dad.

13. Gone Home by Fullbright is another game that is often talked about in LGBTQ circles. It’s an exploration game where you return home to an empty house and learn by going through different rooms, reading letters, and finding items, the story of your character’s family, particularly your sister. I love games that force you to explore and work for the whole storyline, because it feels so much more fulfilling when it all plays out. Gone Home does this brilliantly! I will say that it’s a short game for the price, so I’d recommend waiting for a sale.

14. Life is Strange by DONTNOD Entertainment is one of the greatest games I have ever played, period. I will never be able to say enough good things about it. You play as Max Caulfield, a photographer who has recently moved back to her hometown to attend the prestigious Blackwell Academy. There, she reunites with her estranged best friend, Chloe Price, falls into a mystery surrounding a missing student, and learns that she has the ability to rewind time. It’s a game where choices in the first episode will impact what happens in the fifth. All of the characters are memorable. You will absolutely fall in love with Arcadia Bay and get sucked into the mystery surrounding it. I played this game over the course of three days when I first bought it, because I just couldn’t stop. It remains one of the most emotional experiences I’ve ever had. As for LGBTQ aspects, both Max and Chloe are bisexual, and you can play Max as having feelings for Chloe and/or her friend Warren.

15. miraclr- Divine Dating Sim by Woodsy Studio is a fun little game about falling in love with an angel via group chat. Your character has been chosen to communicate with the seraphim (and Lucifer) concerning the implementation of the first miracle Earth has seen in ages. Most of the game involves chatting with the angels, deciding on a miracle, and entering private group chats to develop your relationship with the angels. You get to choose your pronouns, and Gabriel goes by they/them pronouns. I’ve only played one route, but it was pretty cute! The one annoying aspect is the fact that it’s modeled after a mobile game and sets chats for certain times. You can easily bypass that, however, by choosing to power through or rewind.

16. Nekojishi by Team Nekojishi is...a mixed bag, if I’m going to be honest. The likeability of the characters fluctuates a lot, and the True Ending had A LOT of issues for me. Still, I played the thing for nine whole hours! It’s a game about Liao, a college student and aspiring dancer whose third eye is suddenly opened, giving him the ability to see gods and spirits. Among these spirits are Guardian Tiger, a family guardian spirit who wants Liao to return to his family’s temple and use his abilities there, Clouded Leopard, who wants Liao to become a go-between for him and his worshipers, and Leopard Cat, who has possessed one of Liao’s classmates in order to convince him to create a temple for an earth god he’s connected to. Obviously, Liao isn’t so keen to abandon his own life in order to fulfill any of these wishes, but the spirits decide to remain by his side until he makes a choice. You can romance one or all of the characters, leading to different endings which, again, vary in quality. Still, the art and music are great, there are many tidbits on Taiwanese folklore, and it’s free! If you’re into gay beastmen and folklore, this is a good game to check out.

17. Night in the Woods by Infinite Fall is another game that played with my emotions. Like, it got so real, I needed to take frequent breaks during my first playthrough. You play as Mae Borowski, a college dropout returning to her hometown for reasons unknown to the player for most of the game. Falling into her former, aimless life, Mae reconnects with her friends while learning of the darker secrets of Possum Springs. Mae is pansexual, and two of her friends, Gregg and Angus, are in a relationship that is further explored if you choose to get closer to Gregg over the course of the game. This game delves into heavy subjects like depression, helplessness, the slow death of a town, and growing apart from the people you once knew.

18. I’m ending this list with a game everyone should know about: Stardew Valley by Concerned Ape. This is the peak of all farming simulation games! You play as a character who inherits a farm from their grandfather and moves there to escape their meaningless office job. Once there, you can develop your farm, fight monsters, explore, and befriend the townsfolk. Whether you play as a male or female, the romance options are all open. You can marry, have kids, and raise a family together. All of the characters have great events, but my favorite has to be my goth boi Sebastian.

Phew... Remind me not to let this go for nine days again. That took awhile... Anyway, I hope you find something you like. See you tomorrow!

#pride month #pride recs #day 9 #day 10 #day 11 #day 12 #day 13 #day 14 #day 15 #day 16 #day 17 #day 18 #angels with scaly wings #radical phi #coming out on top #coot #obscurasoft #dragon age origins #bioware #dao #dream daddy #ddadds #game grumps #gone home #fullbright #miraclr #woodsy studio #nekojishi #night in the woods #nitw

[douxreviews]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - ‘Inescapable’ Review

Fitz: "You are one sick, twisted piece of work." Simmons: "I should strangle you right now."

What a fantastic episode. Fitzsimmons are constantly referred to as one person, as if they only had one mind. What an inspired idea, then, to have an episode in which their minds literally become one.

The set up is simple and straightforward: the Chronicoms connect Fitz's and Simmons' brains because they believe that the duo can invent time travel more quickly if their brains are combined. The Chronicoms' agenda is nothing but a plot device, though, for inventing time travel is completely ignored in favor of exploring Fitzsimmons' memories, darker sides and relationship.

After Atarah tells them what they should do and leaves them alone, Fitz's first move is to propose, which was also the first thing his other self did when he met Jemma in the future. That's a great Fitzsimmons' moment, first because of Fitz's unwavering intention and also because of Simmons' reaction: she doesn't blink an eye and accepts. There is no pain about reliving this moment, no thoughts given to what she lived with the other Fitz and lost. She has this Fitz and that's all she cares about.

Perhaps the most evident character trait of Jemma's is how down to business she is. Way back in the sixth episode of the series, she was ready to sacrifice herself to save the team without giving it a second thought. She knows what must be done and so she does it. But this episode reveals the flip side to that aspect of her personality. She deals with difficult situations in such a matter-of-fact way because she represses whatever complicated feelings she might have. That's also why she threw herself so quickly into the search for the second Fitz: she can't grieve Fitz if he's still alive somewhere.

When Fitz keeps asking what happened during his absence, Simmons is so eager not to tell that she devolves to her seven year old self and hides in her bed. We learn later in the episode that Simmons returned to that specific age because that was when her father taught her to keep her troubles and bad feelings contained in a little box so they wouldn't keep her up at night. The problem with that method is that it ended up creating a monster version of Jemma that she keeps locked in the deepest, darkest areas of her mind. I thought that approach to Simmons' evil side was rather simplistic and the only thing in the episode that didn't work for me.

We've known for awhile that Simmons can be extremely cold and detached when necessary. Whereas Fitz literally had an evil version of himself inserted in his mind, Simmons always had a darker side. So if you have an episode where Simmons and Fitz are wandering in each other's brains, it's a given that The Doctor is going to show up and I understand why the writers also wanted an Evil Jemma around. But why is that side of Jemma represented by a horror movie version of herself? It's so random and not the best representation they could have come up with. I'd expect Simmons' dark side to be a counterpart to Fitz's The Doctor, albeit not as cruel but certainly colder.

Maybe it's a matter of expectations, really. I'd rather have the focus be on Simmons' cold nature, the writers focused on her suppressed feelings. Still, "this character had a horror monster inside their mind all this time" is something that comes out of left field, so much so that the script has Simmons explain twice what the thing inside the box is. Ringu Jemma is not a complete fail, though, if only because of the way Fitz, Simmons and even The Doctor react to her. It's hilarious.

Before the episode explores the devils of Fitzsimmons, it devotes some time to update Fitz on what he missed. Simmons wanted to keep it all from him, or at least not dump everything on him so quickly, but after her brief return to childhood land, she can't stop her memories from manifesting themselves. "Please, not this memory," she asks, but it's of no use. Thus, we visit the moment after the battle of Chicago when they brought Fitz's body in. We haven't seen this scene before, so it's a chance for us to see how the group as a whole reacted to Fitz's death. Simmons was wrecked, but she had already told the others that there was a second Fitz. Mack wasn't buying it, but he was very respectful, as were May and Yo-Yo. Daisy put all her differences with Fitzsimmons aside and was there to give Simmons some solace. Daisy truly is the best friend ever.

Understandably, Fitz's mind is sent on a loop when he sees his dead body. He does the time travel math quickly, and his reaction is quite intriguing. First, he is truly devastated that his other self died. Then, when he learns that the other Fitz married Simmons, his reaction is "I missed my own wedding," except that it wasn't his wedding, as Simmons tries to explain. I expected him to wonder and worry about what would have happened to him if the other Fitz hadn't died. But he doesn't perceive that Fitz as another, and therefore questions such as "would Jemma have ever come after me?" never arise.

Simmons' memories come to an emotional conclusion when Coulson enters the room. From the way everyone is acting around him, Fitz knows something is off. Iain DeCaestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge shine throughout the entire episode, but this scene in particular is a showcase of their acting abilities. DeCaestecker's silent reaction to the news of Coulson's death is so good, his eyes carrying so much emotion, and Henstridge alternates between reliving the memory and narrating it to Fitz. It's brilliant. I also loved the chance to see Coulson yet again, and I loved even more that he was the first one to believe in Simmons and encourage her to go after Fitz. Damn it, what a great father figure.

We get another great scene with Coulson when we visit a shared memory of Simmons and Fitz: the day they met him and were recruited to his team! Their reaction to the proposal is so on point. Simmons is immediately on board, but Fitz wants to think about it before making a decision. Now he traces back all the trauma and pain they went through to that moment when they decided to become field agents.

Fitz's remark is enough to bring Ringu Jemma to their presence, and Fitz and Simmons are separated from one another by their evil selves. It's a moment that once again shows how random Ringu Jemma is. The interaction between Simmons and The Doctor is amazing, especially how she just ignores his attacks and coldly calls him a psychopath. On the other hand, I didn't understand why Ringu Jemma wanted to torture Fitz, even if she gave an explanation for it ("you cause pain, my turn"). It's hard to believe she ever had this type of feelings about Fitz, even if repressed.

Nonetheless, it all leads to a terrific clash between the regular Simmons and Fitz. Locked inside the containment module (it's a containment module, Jemma!), they let it all out in the best climax this episode could have had. There have been many instances in movies and TV shows where a couple fights and screams and ends up declaring their love for one another, but damn it if it doesn't work like a charm here, and it's all because of good writing and acting. Fitz and Simmons' discussion is a recap of everything the writers have thrown at them, and therefore it's a great way to honor their story together. It's instantly a Fitzsimmons's classic scene.

At first, I wasn't in love with the resolution for The Doctor and Ringu Jemma. Simmons had said earlier that he was only part of Fitz's pain to be controlled, and I wanted that to be the resolution: Fitz and Simmons realizing that their evil selves were part of their troubled personalities and needed to be controlled. Instead, they leave the containment module to find the Doctor and Ringu Jemma... making out. Would the Doctor, a very polished man, ever feel attracted to a horror movie monster? I doubt it. But by the third time I watched the episode (I really loved it), I got a kick out of the scene, especially of how Ringu Jemma subdued The Doctor.

All in all, this was a special episode. I wasn't happy with the direction the writers took Fitzsimmons last season, but "Inescapable" course-corrected it. If anything, it showed that Fitzsimmons can't escape from one another, and we can't escape from them.

Intel and Assets

- Enoch for the win! I knew he would come through for Fitz and Simmons.

- In one of Simmons' memories, we learn that Daisy wanted Yo-Yo to be part of the Space Team. Yo-Yo declined because, even though she and Mack had already broken up, she wanted to be there for him.

- Fitz and Simmons conjured their best friends to help them beat The Doctor and Ringu Jemma. Simmons' was Daisy and Fitz's was Mack. Sorry, Hunter and Enoch.

- To force Simmons to return to her grownup version, Fitz threatened to bring Aida to their presence. That was savage, I loved it.

- Young Jemma was seven (and a half) years old, but the actress who played her looked older. And she certainly isn't English.

- I might not have loved Ringu Jemma, but Elizabeth Henstridge clearly had lots of fun playing her. I did like the attention to detail in the design of the character: she wore clothes similar to the ones that Simmons wore on Maveth, and she had gold makeup on her forehead, just like Simmons did under Kasius' rule in the future.

- The book that young Simmons asked Fitz to read turned out to be the Darkhold. That was a nice callback to season four.

- Nice bit of acting by Elizabeth Henstridge: the way Simmons touches her wedding ring when Daisy gives her Fitz's.

- Nice bit of acting by Iain DeCaestecker: the child-like way he asks "what's wrong with Coulson?"

- So many good line deliveries in this episode. I liked Henstridge's "he is trapped inside your mind and now we are trapped inside your mind with him," she really conveyed a sense of danger there. And DeCaestecker's body language and delivery of "I don't know what I did to deserve that horror movie" were amazing. Nothing beats Joel Stoffer's "I have taken bold action," though. He made that line so perfect.

Quotes

Fitz (re: the Darkhold): "That's not a good book, that's a bad book. Bad story, very poorly written."

Fitz: "Well, it looks like someone's only gonna have two Ph.Ds by the time they're 17, doesn't it?"

Simmons: "For an organized person, your thoughts are a bloody mess."

Simmons: "I would remind you that we came in here because your Hydra fascist shadow was trying to kill us." Fitz: "Oh, so you unleashed the bloody Ringu Monster that you keep in a box. I don't hold a candle to you, psycho!"

Fitz: "You need therapy. You have some deep, deep, pent-up issues." Simmons: "It's been a rough year."

Fitz: "I had no idea you were holding on to all that." Simmons: "What's the point? Don't let anyone know, that's the whole idea." Fitz: "You are so English."

Fitz: "There's no better place to lay low than Strategic Homeland Intervention..." Simmons: "Yeah, it's an awful acronym."

Coulson: "Fitzsimmons, the brain, topped out of your class after being the two youngest ever enrolled." Simmons (proudly): "Well, there can only be one youngest, sir."

Fitz: "Then you get taken away by some rock, only to fall in love with some bloody astronaut..." Simmons: "I was alone on a desert planet." Fitz: "... who turned out to be Hive, by the way. Oh, and also, are we sure that that happened after you slept with him? Because, hey, the jury's still out on that one." Simmons: "Oh, you wanna go there? At least he was a person!"

Simmons: "The Framework revealed the truth. It's all ego." Fitz: "Oh, ego? I would love to deal with ego." Simmons: "Would you?" Fitz: "Guess why." Simmos: "Why?" Fitz: "'Cause your id's out there chewing Mack's head off." Clever bit of dialogue.

Fitz: "If it was you in the Framework, the place would look like Night of the Living Dead."

Fitz: "Didn't know you liked that." Simmons: "Didn't know you'd do that."

Mack: "Their entire planet was laid waste. And the ones who did it, they're..." Daisy: "They're here?" Mack: "Here, yeah. Yeah, they... You kind of stepped on my moment there, but yeah."

Even if I didn't love Ringu Jemma, I thought this was great. Flawed, but marvelous, four out of four music boxes.

---

Lamounier

#Agents of SHIELD #Jemma Simmons #Leo Fitz #Fitzsimmons #AoS #Marvel #MCU #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #Agents of SHIELD Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

[rorykillmore]

this next gift is for my friend jay! who is no longer on tumblr (the augers got him,) but i’m posting this here for him to save however he wants. jay left his request open and so i thought for awhile about what i wanted to do and settled on -- what better than a fic about our first important rp dynamic? naruto joining the legends may still be a plot in progress, but i wanted to explore a few snapshots of his relationship with them and sara specifically. so this is kind of? future-set? as will become apparent the more of it you read.

merry christmas, jay!!! idk if there are words to properly express how grateful i am to have met you and gotten to know you so well this past year. and i know it’s only been a year, so it really speaks to your character how quickly you’ve become one of my very best friends. you’ve always been there to support me and listen and be validating when i’m upset or frustrated, or just make me smile by linking me to some silly (or terrifying, CLICKHOLE) video. the trust we’ve built up is very rare in my life and important to me and i feel so lucky to know you and be able to share all our varied interests with each other (from saw to borderlands to cry of mann to dctv -- and of course, cube!). never forget that you’re a wonderful person and friend.

Child soldiers, Sara thinks dryly, great.  She supposes the League wasn’t much better, but at least she’d been old enough to vote before they started training her to kill.

“Wow,” Naruto says the first time he’s ever aboard the Waverider.  “Does this thing have a kitchen?”

Sara feels like that’s the point at which she should have realized she was in trouble. 

Honestly, the team doesn’t exactly need any more teenagers. They already have Gardner, and Maive pretty much counts, and Ratchet is along for the ride at least some of the time. It’s not that they can’t fend for themselves in their own respective ways, but they’re still teenagers, questionable judgment and poor impulse control and all, and looking out for all of them can be a little bit stressful especially when it’s just her and Newt.

Except Naruto, whatever else he might be, is brave, with a genuine sense of compassion and a desire to help other people. He gets along well with the other Legends -- Maive especially, which is a big plus in Sara’s book, all things considered. Worst of all, he’s eccentric, one-of-a-kind, a bit of a disaster -- just odd enough to not quite fit with the rest of the world, in spite of all his friendliness and easy charm.

In short, he was practically a Legend in the making even before she met him. She supposes she never really stood much of a chance.

The first time they bring him along, it’s to put a wrench in the plans of some time traveling rifter who wants to fuck with World War II (Why do they always pick World War II? Are there that many people running around who want to see the world overrun by Nazis? It’s discouraging, honestly). Maive suggests Naruto might be useful, and Sara can’t turn down the extra firepower.

So they go -- right into the thick of it, which means Ratchet has to come up with these bullshit holographic disguises for him and Maive. Sara tries not to laugh as Naruto lines them up for a picture with ‘Franklin Delano Roosevelt’ and ‘Winston Churchill’. It’s silly and dumb and out-of-this-world, and somehow, they all have fun. Even Maive seems happier and more at ease with the group when Naruto’s around.

And so, Sara relents, maybe it won’t kill her to keep him around.

Or (knowing the Legends in any universe) maybe it will -- but it just might be worth it.

“Is it normal for kids to learn to fight like this, where you’re from?” she asks her one day after Naruto’s talked her into some light sparring. He seems to like to make a game out of it -- his sparring style is eager and fun even compared to the non-hostile practice she and Rkorya do. It’s not that he’s not skilled, because he undeniably is -- it’s just that his attitude is different from the people Sara once trained with.

“Well, I mean --” Naruto pauses to scratch behind his head, and Sara clamps down on the instinct to take advantage of the casually given opening.  “Kinda? Most of the people I know have been training since they were...”  He seems to lose count, and shrugs.  “I mean, I guess it’s like -- how else would our villages protect themselves?”

Child soldiers, Sara thinks dryly, great.  She supposes the League wasn’t much better, but at least she’d been old enough to vote before they started training her to kill.

“Where’d you learn to fight?” Naruto’s question breaks through her thoughts, and she pauses.

“It’s complicated.” Somehow, she knows that answer won’t satisfy his curiosity. “The organization that trained me -- most of them weren’t very good people.”

And yet that part of her, the assassin trained by the League, still sometimes feels like the part she knows best. It wasn’t so long ago, after all, that she’d gone running back to them when she’d felt she had nothing else to do with herself.

Naruto’s expression falls, and Sara tries not to grimace. “Look, there’s no reason to worry about it. It was a long time ago.”

“Still...” He frowns at her without trying to hide his reaction. “I’m, uh. I’m really sorry, Sara.”

The thing is, he doesn’t even know what he’s expressing sympathy for. The thing is, it’s not just what happened to her, it’s what she’d done. 

The thing is, even if Naruto knew all of those things, Sara gets the feeling he’d be no less shy about reaching out to her.

“Well.” She shrugs, because she’s still not very good at taking sympathy, but she doesn’t want to brush him off either.  “Whatever happened to us before -- it’s not an excuse not to move forward now. Right?”

“Right!”  Naruto breaks into a grin just as quickly as he faltered a moment ago. “I mean, hey, look at you now -- you’re a superhero!”

Sara scrunches her nose, but it’s half-playful. “Don’t use that word.”

Inaccurate though it may be, she can’t help but appreciate his sincerity. Naruto might belong with them because of his general ragtag misfit nature, but the reason he makes a difference -- it’s moments like this.  He doesn’t seem to have it in him to ever stop caring.

She gives him a brief, friendly nudge, and raises her bo staff. “Let’s get back to it.”

Leery as she may be of taking her team to the 80′s after the chaos emeralds incident, Sara will concede that they could all use a holiday vacation. That means picking a ‘fun’ decade, and it generally doesn’t get much more fun than the 80′s (well, okay, the 70′s, but a good portion of her team is underage). She lets them pick a few things they want to do - namely things that don’t involve too much more of Ratchet and Maive hiding, although Ratchet insists he can pull off a killer Madonna - and one of those things happens to be attending a real, authentic, 1980′s drive-in movie.

Their movie of choice? One of the original showings of Aliens.

Newt spends most of the time being concerned over the extinction risk to a foreign species ( “You’re thinking too much about it,” Sara keeps telling him, “They’re supposed to be evil aliens.”) while Gardner seems more intrigued with the technological aspects ( “Pretty inaccurate for the time period this is supposed to be set in. But cool.”). Maive, for her part, has found a new hero in Ellen Ripley, which Sara can’t help but consider to be the best thing in the world.

“Does she die?” she keeps murmuring. “Don’t tell me if she dies. She can’t die. She’s unkillable.”

“I’m... pretty sure she’s in other movies in this franchise?” Ratchet ventures. “So she probably doesn’t die. In this one, anyway.”

“Just so you know, Alien 3 isn’t worth watching under any circumstances,” Sara shoots back at them. “Ripley or no Ripley.” Her gaze catches on Naruto, and she tilts her head, amused. He’s sitting there in uncharacteristic silence, squashed between Ratchet and Maive, sporting one of the goofiest grins she’s ever seen. Sara’s not sure she wants to interrupt his experience, so she doesn’t say anything.

Maive, on the other hand, has no such reservations. “What’s with you?” she asks teasingly, nosing him.

“Huh?” Naruto’s eyes barely move away from the screen.  “Nothing! It’s just --” He pauses to soak in a particularly detailed action sequence, then finally steals a glance at Maive. “This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.”

It sounds nothing short of sincere, for all that Naruto is a trained ninja with a lifetime’s worth of experiences that Sara is certain are way flashier than this. She has to admit, it’s a little bit sweet. Even Maive pauses for a moment. Then --

“Wow. You really need to get out more.”

“Hey!”

“As if watching Ripley kick alien butt isn’t one of the coolest things Maive’s ever done, too.” Apparently confident in the distance Naruto’s currently putting between them, Ratchet calls her out. Then he looks at Naruto, and ears wiggle in a way Sara recognizes by now to mean that he’s a little apprehensive. “Anyway, I... kinda get what you mean. I never really got to do stuff like this, back on Veldin.”

Naruto gives him a friendly nudge. “Weren’t you a superhero even back in your world? Saving people and getting to visit different planets in a cool spaceship is still pretty awesome.”

Ratchet looks even more embarrassed, and Sara turns around again to hide her smirk.  Suddenly, she’s pretty sure it’s a kindness that Maive isn’t the one sitting between them.

They seem happy, she reflects as the banter fades away and they all get caught up in the movie again.  Happy is a concept that still seems a little too far out of her own reach, but if holding this team together means that these kids get to have something like this -- well, it’s worth it.

She really is glad they picked up Naruto, after all.

But things like this don’t last forever. No matter how important they are, or how much she wants to protect them. Sara knows this by now.

Maive is dead. Sara can’t get her lifeless form out of her head -- so starkly contrasting, so unreal compared to the energetic, alive Maive they all knew only days ago. She steels herself, in spite of everything, and gives her team what she knows they need to hear. That it’s going to hurt for awhile, but that they have each other. That they can come to her if they need anything. That she’s going to lead them through this, that they’re going to find Maive’s killer, and win her some justice (because they need something to drive them forward, and Sara knows from experience that revenge is an excellent motivator).

It feels hollow to her own ears. The strength she tries to lend them feels like a lie, because the moment she retreats to her office, she has a hard time believing any of it.

There’s just the loss. Another hole in her heart. She’s used to it by now, or she should be, but it’s different now that she’s captain. That she’s responsible, that there are a million things she’s telling herself she could have or should have done.

If she’s being honest with herself, well -- the big speech she called the team together for was as much to shield what she’s really feeling from them as it was meant to be a reassurance. They have each other - they have her, if they need her - but she’ll deal on her own.  She always does.

Still, she knows them by now, so she’s not entirely surprised when she hears a knock at the door.  She’s fully prepared to brush whoever it is off, to tell them to go get some rest --

“Sara?”

But somehow it isn’t Naruto that she expects, and it stalls her a little. She makes the mistake of looking at him -- she doesn’t think she’s ever seen him look so tired.

“What’s up?” she asks him dully.

He hesitates uncharacteristically.   “I’m... not gonna ask if you’re okay. ‘Cause I don’t think anyone is.”  He shifts slightly in light of her lack of response.  “But there’s something else I wanted to ask.”

Sara straightens from where she’s leaning against the desk, trying to look a little more attentive.

“I wanna -- help you guys find who killed her.”

The statement hangs there for a moment. She blinks. It takes a moment to process.

“I know I haven’t been hanging around with you guys for very long.” Naruto continues a little more quickly. “But she was my friend - she was all of our friends - and I’m not gonna let whoever did this get away with it. I know you have a lot to deal with right now, but I -- I just wanna help. I wanna help all of you.”

She doesn’t think she’s ever heard him sound so serious. She swallows, mulling over a response slowly -- more how to word it, because she already knows how she feels.  “I know.”

Naruto opens his mouth, closes it again, then blinks. “You do?”

“I’d already figured you weren’t going to stand by.” She shrugs, giving him a thin smile (or as much of one as she can manage). “And why wouldn’t I let you help? You’re part of the team.”

It’s Naruto’s turn to go quiet for a moment “I am?” He frowns, dissatisfied with his own uncertainty. “I mean, uh -- I just... didn’t know if it was official, I guess.”

Sara guess that somewhere amidst everything that’s been going on lately, ‘official’ has kind of slipped through the cracks. But the truth is, she accepted Naruto a while ago -- she’s pretty sure most of them have.

Moving almost makes the ache in her chest a physical ache, but she crosses the room and rests a hand on his shoulder regardless.  “You are,” she tells him, meeting his gaze levelly.  “And we’re going to get justice for Maive. I can sure as hell promise you that.”

The determination that flares in Naruto’s eyes is as good as an agreement, and this time, Sara thinks her own words don’t feel like quite as distant from the truth.

#fic #christmas gifts #also eternal prayer circle that i wrote naruto okay #attempts to infiltrate ninja hell

[rpgmgames]

August’s Featured Game: Land, Sea, Entropy

DEVELOPER(S): Rozel ENGINE: RPGMaker MV   GENRE: RPG, Fantasy, Adventure SUMMARY: Land, Sea, Entropy, is a story-heavy action role-playing game with elements of mystery and horror. You live beneath the sea in a small village called Tidemoor. To the North is a labyrinth inhabited by strange monsters… and their numbers are only growing. So as one of Tidemoor’s warriors, your job is to thin the beast’s numbers and protect your town. But you get too greedy, go too far, and reach a point of no return. You find yourself in a world far different from your own, but it isn’t all full of monsters. There are peaceful places too, areas that are completely safe and untouched by any beasts. As you come to meet the inhabitants of this new land, and seek to return to your own, strange phenomena begins to occur and a mystery surrounding the unknown world unfolds. 

Introduce yourself!  Hello, I'm Rozel! I began playing around with RPGMaker back in 2014, starting with a trial of RPGMaker XP. This is when I started practicing pixel art more and learned some of the ins and outs of the engine itself.

My hobbies are digital art and fiction writing, so I was interested in combining those with my love of games to make something of my own!

What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Rozel: I've always enjoyed role-playing games. Although I had used RPGMaker XP awhile back, I didn't do much with it. One day as I was looking at a pixel RPG, a sudden thought popped in my mind. “Hey, this is neat... I could make something too.” So I started planning out an RPG of my own, and later bought RPGMaker MV.

Land, Sea, Entropy, is a game involving exploration, action, mystery, and lots of choice-making. You play as a warrior, lost far beyond the comfort of your home. You try to return, but you become connected to something larger and more sinister. Obstacles arise one after the other, and home only seems farther and farther away.

My goal was and still is to make something that had the fast-paced fun of real-time combat, the challenge of puzzles, and the immersion of enjoyable character interactions. The main character falls into the 'silent protagonist' type, but this is because the player's role is more about choices and experiencing the influence they have on others—instead of having a set-in-stone personality. When it comes to character development, it's the other characters that are given the spotlight.

How long have you been working on your project? *Rozel: I started forming ideas for the game around March, 2016. It was also around this time when I bought RPGMaker MV, so I was still learning how to use it.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Rozel: I was partly inspired by a manga called Pandora Hearts. In it, conflict occurs between the characters but they're all still so likable at the same time. I also love how deeply connected the characters are to the story and each other, and how some of them have so much history together. LSE sort of adopted that interconnectivity, history, and hopefully I can achieve similar likability.

In general, I pull inspiration from lots of different fantasy stories and sometimes folklore.

And, like many RPGMaker devs, I've been inspired by Ib in some ways. The atmosphere, the simple yet creative visuals, and the puzzles in it are all great. Ib and other RPGMaker horror games are part of what led LSE to having some elements of horror.

But when it comes to the combat style in my game, my main inspirations actually come from online action RPGs. In particular, the side-scrolling ones like LaTale and Elsword that I used to play. In LSE, you'll be comboing attacks and using your fast reflexes to avoid enemy retaliation.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them?   *Rozel: Self-doubt. I've dealt with this in waves throughout development. I've gotten so much positive support about the visuals, but that's just part of the game. Is playing it actually fun? Will people enjoy the story and characters, beyond the simple descriptions I've revealed? I won't know for sure until I start sending the game to testers, but it isn't quite ready for that yet.

Sometimes I work on one aspect of the game for so long, repeating it over and over again, so of course it won't be fun to me in that moment. But when I go back to other parts of the game, I remember that I do actually enjoy playing my own game. It gets me going again. There are still early parts of the game I'll have to redo, but I'm not going to let myself get stuck remaking endlessly.

So I've resolved to complete the game all the way through as it is before going back to update older sections. I've learned so much from making LSE, and hopefully I'll be a better artist, writer, and game designer by the time I get to the end.

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Rozel: Yes! It's evolved a lot. I was originally going to make something small and more simplistic, but I gradually got more and more ideas about the characters and the world. I'm at a point where I'm satisfied with what I have and the game is sort of shrinking again as I pick out the best ideas to use.

The tone is also a bit different. The plot was going to be nonsensical and comedic, which I'm honestly just not that good with. I still hope to put in some comedic flair, but the project is taking a more serious and in some cases darker turn.

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don't have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone? *Rozel: I'm working alone right now, though I've gotten great feedback and advice from friends! I prefer working alone, it's easier for me to make things closer to how I imagine them. I tend to have weird way of organizing and plotting stuff out, too, so it would probably be tough to keep others in the loop with my mess of ideas.

What was the best part of developing the game? *Rozel: I love seeing my ideas come to life, and it's really satisfying to feel like I've finally figured something new out (even if I really haven't)! There's a lot involved in developing a game, so you sort of have to become a jack of all trades if you're going to develop solo. I've been able to pick up new skills and improve on skills I already had, it's been lots of fun.

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *Rozel: Every character has pieces of me in them, and lots of big differences too, but the character which stands out as being the most similar is Vyn March. She's introverted, keeps a positive attitude about things, and writing is her hobby. Much of her character is built on the experiences I've had in the past, but I won't go into it further because I don't want to spoil things!

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Rozel: Maybe I could've spent more time preparing, maybe I could've set better rules of consistency to follow when designing the game. But I needed to mess up a few times in order to learn. I think everything I did helped lead me on the right path, even if I had a shaky start. Mistakes are all a part of the process, so I don't have any regrets.

Once you finish your project, do you plan to explore game's universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Rozel: There's a really small chance I might make something that takes place in the same universe, with the same rules of magic and so on. As for the characters, their stories will have reached a conclusion at the end of the game. I don't think I'll have anything more to tell about them and will move on to new characters for the next project.

What do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Rozel: I really hope that I can affect someone in a positive way, whether that be through the characters and writing or just by providing something fun to play.

Is there something you're afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game?  *Rozel: I think the worst thing would be releasing it with glaring bugs and plot-holes I somehow didn't notice, but that's what testers are for. Fingers crossed that nothing is missed!

Question from last month's featured dev: Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *Rozel: I do play RPGMaker games occasionally. Getting familiar with what other devs come up with in the engine is a good way to gain inspiration.

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Rozel: Critique is a useful tool, but I want to add to that. If someone is rude in their critique, it doesn't necessarily invalidate their opinion. It definitely doesn't mean they're right, but there's still a chance you can find useful information.

Also, sometimes people are just really bad at wording things so they come off as rude when they don't intend it. So don't write off a suggestion just because it seems mean-spirited. At the same time, everyone has a different idea of what makes a good game. Don't make changes only to please someone else, make the game you want to make!

We mods would like to thank Rozel for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved! 

Remember to check out Land, Sea, Entropy if you haven’t already! See you next month! 

- Mods Gold & Platinum 

#rpgmaker #rpg maker #game dev #games #dev interview #gotm #land sea entropy #game of the month #game feature #pixel games

[snaurus]

UPDATE: Prescription (1/2)

Pairings: None Ratings: T  Categories: Angst/Friendship/Humor Warnings: Blood, Illness, Violence

Maybe getting sick was just the thing Noctis needed.

I’m doing something a little different this time around. Since this story turned into an absolute beast and spanned over twenty pages, I split it in half to make it a tad easier for @glyphenthusiast to edit. That said, I want to archive it when it’s completed, so until then I’ll be posting the parts here on my writing blog and posting the finished version on my AO3 account later! Lucky for my Tumblr followers, right?

Also, sick!Noct anon from awhile ago, if you’re still following this blog here’s that story I was foreshadowing for you! Although, this fic turned into an excuse to write my chocobo!headcanons for the bros and to explore certain aspects of Noctis’ character that weren’t really touched on in the game. Still, I hope this will appease the whump lovers in each of us. :’)

"Do you see anything?" Noctis shouted. He'd cupped both hands around his mouth so Prompto could hear him better. His friend was balanced on top of Ignis' shoulders, who in turn stood on Gladiolus' shoulders. The three of them had formed a human ladder to reach a potential opening in the cave ceiling, after Noctis failed to warp onto the too soft roof.

"I can't tell; there's no sunlight!" Prompto yelled back.

"We've been here for going on thirty-seven hours. No doubt it's merely nighttime," Ignis said. He gripped Prompto by his calves when the other man almost overbalanced them by standing on his tippy-toes to better access the ceiling. "Keep checking!"

"Wait. I feel a breeze! And it smells like…pine trees? I think I've found us an exit!" There were the sounds of shuffling, and then clods of mud toppled down as Prompto presumably dug a bigger hole.

Gladiolus sputtered as some of the dirt ended up on his face. "Hey! Next time warn a guy."

"Oh, right. Look out below," Prompto said, seconds after he knocked another large portion of the roof loose. Gladiolus stumbled as he tried to avoid the clutter raining down on him, which caused Ignis to grunt and attempt to offset the movement. "Gladio, could you not?"

"Could you not mess around up there?" he snapped in return. "What are you even doing?"

"Almost…got it…ahah!" Prompto must have grabbed onto something because his feet left Ignis' shoulders completely. His boots wriggled and then disappeared into the ceiling. More debris fell before a tree root poked out of the opening.

Ignis motioned Noctis to climb up, but Gladiolus shook his head. "Specs, you next. Scope out the other side and then I'll boost him up after you."

For once there wasn't an argument; the prospect of the unknown had Ignis convinced. He waved his hands around until he caught the root on the third pass and pulled himself through. They waited until the advisor's faint affirmative carried down to them.

Gladiolus clasped both hands together and bent at the knees. "Alley-oop, Noct. Just like we've practiced."

Noctis planted his foot in the center of the other man's palms and rested a hand on his broad shoulder. With all his strength, Gladiolus tossed him upwards, with Noctis also pushing off to gain a little more air. He latched onto the lead with one hand, dangling precariously. He was able to take hold with his other hand at the last minute. It was difficult to shimmy the rest of the way, but just when Noctis thought he was losing his grip again he crawled inside the muddy tunnel. Two sets of hands took him by the wrists and tugged him the rest of the way out.

With their combined efforts, they ripped the root off the tree and lowered it far enough for Gladiolus to grab on his own. At one point Noctis worried Gladiolus may become stuck, but after several heave-hos and a threat from the man himself, he popped free.

"Do you guys know what this means? We're finally liberated!" Prompto cheered, once the group was all gathered together. He dramatically fell to his knees. "I never thought we'd escape that soggy dungeon! Just look at these bushes, and flowers, and…nature! I could kiss it and the sky for being so dry— Ack!"

Just as Prompto was about to finish singing praises, a raindrop decided to fall into his eye. He brought a hand up a little too hard to blot his face and smacked himself in the nose by mistake.

"Tch. Yeah, real 'dry'," Gladiolus deadpanned. He tugged the sullied neckline of his tank top up to wipe off his face, although it was pointless with the incoming storm. Nevermind he smeared the dirt worse, rather than removed any.

"Betrayer," Prompto seethed. He shook a fist at the clouds and it poured harder on him. "Aw, man."

Noctis laughed at his friend's antics. Maybe he did so too hard since the tail end of his chuckle turned into coughing. No one else seemed to take notice except Ignis, whose head inclined in Noctis' direction. He asked, "Noct, are you all right?"

"M'fine," he said quickly. Noctis walked over to Prompto and grabbed him by the angry-fist to pull him to his feet. "Come on, let's return to camp."

"Where even is camp? After those creeps—"

"Goblins," Ignis corrected.

"After those assholes caused that rockslide and blocked us in I've been turned around." Sensing Ignis’ confusion, Prompto pointed to a yellow mystery patch on his cheek and said, "Look it, I swear one of'em spit on me, okay? So I'm not calling them by their proper name for as long as I hold a grudge, which is forever. From now on they are anything except Goblins to me."

"You just said their name," Gladiolus indicated.

"No, I said their names are 'anything except Goblins'—"

Noctis sighed and said, "This is stupid" and reached inside his pants pocket for the chocobo whistle. They'd been stuck searching that ancestral tomb lead (which they could now confirm was false) for less than the five allotted days they'd rented birds from Wiz. Their rides should be roving somewhere waiting for them.

After one use of the whistle, a white blur dropped from a stony ridge and landed heavily at Noctis' back. His chocobo kicked up twigs and leaves as she flapped her wings. She squawked impatiently, so Noctis gave her a big hug and several deep neck rubs in apology.

"Sorry for keeping you, Bon Bon," he said. He'd tested a lot of other nicknames, but she'd refused to respond to anything else but the candy he'd offered her on the sly the first time they met. And ever since he greeted her with the gesture, the bird seemed to expect a hug every time, like it was her just reward. The one instance Noctis forgot, she pecked him on top of his head and taken a couple hairs as payment.

Ignis' chocobo arrived right after, only second to Noctis' own ride in speed. The pastel blue fowl was exceptionally limber and would make a large profit in racing competitions, if Ignis were ever so inclined as to participate regularly. For now, he tended to limit his sessions to scouting ahead during excursions and not much else.

Last were Prompto's and Gladiolus' chocobos. Both were temperamental beasts, which might be why they were a suited mated pair. Gladiolus' more so than Prompto's, although the bodyguard had a ritual to settle matters.

He took the bird by the reins now and looked him dead in one eye, asking, "We gonna have a problem this time or what?" Gladiolus waited for the chocobo to blink, once, and then nodded. He gave the crown of feathers a quick ruffle. "Attaboy."

As they mounted their rides, Prompto cooed and pet his bird's front. "You coming along, girl? You coming along? Yeah, I can tell—" He stumbled as her wings flapped in his face. "Sorry, sorry! I forgot how sensitive you are on the chest, sorry. You're still beautiful and precious and I love you. Hey Gladio, do you think the chicks will look like Silky? If they do, I hope they're just as bright a yellow as she is."

Gladiolus hummed. "Maybe. Nothing wrong with another red Drumstick, though."

Prompto made a face as he settled onto the saddle and ushered his chocobo along, keeping pace with Bon Bon’s idle gait. "Well if they do, then they're definitely not sharing his namesake! Why couldn't you stick with something like…Vlad the Impaler or William the Conqueror?"

"Where do you come up with this stuff? William? Nobody has a name like that."

"I'm an expert, okay? I put effort and consideration into them. See, I've already got Silky's and Drumstick's baby names picked out. A girl should be Meryl and a boy should be Irons; they're foolproof and the same ones I'm gonna use when I have kids," he boasted.

"You're naming your offspring after chocobos?" Gladiolus asked incredulously.

"What? No! My future children are inspiring the present— It doesn't matter," Prompto said, sulking. "If you're so smart, then what have you decided for yours? Come on, out with it! I bet a stud like you has the next generation of Amicitia's all figured out."

Gladiolus snorted. "Not me. I'll be awhile yet, although the way my sister tells it she's got that all covered. Iris is convinced she won't stop until she has a starter set."

Noctis and Ignis hadn't been involved with the exchange, but they joined Prompto in giving him peculiar looks. They knew the other man's disposition on having children until the future of Lucis was settled, but this tidbit was new. Gladiolus shrugged. "My mother's side of the family is predisposed to having one after the other. My uncle had a boy and a girl, too."

"Huh. What about you, Noct?" The prince tensed at Prompto's question, trying not to appear alarmed at the change of focus in the conversation. He stayed quiet, as if he hadn't heard the inquiry, but his friend was persistent. The gunner sidled his chocobo closer and elbowed Noctis in the arm. "Noooct? You still plan to marry Lady Lunafreya, right? I'm sure you must be set to have tons of heirs."

"Perish the thought," Ignis jested in his place. "It is said the child reflects the parent, magnified. I'm not certain the world is ready for all that increased mischief."

"Whatever," he mumbled, torn on the matter. Noctis was relieved not to talk about his future, especially in terms of matrimony and the responsibilities therein, but he could have done without the teasing. "Sometimes kids are the opposite. Maybe yours will be way more rebellious than you, ya know."

"All the more reason for me to adopt," Ignis said matter-of-factly. It was his turn to earn a couple surprised stares. The scrutiny must have gotten to him because Ignis turned in his saddle to catch their ogling. "Surely it does not seem so farfetched? The war has made no shortages of orphans. It would be a privilege to take in one or more such children and provide them a stable upbringing."

In a softened tone, Prompto is surprisingly the first to say, "That'd be really super awesome of you to do."

"Someday, yes, I suppose it would be 'really super awesome'," Ignis said. Despite the straight-laced way he repeated Prompto’s words, the edges of his smile were apparent.

Talk thankfully shifted to more idle subjects, allowing Noctis to fade into the background. The longer they traveled the wetter and colder he became, which lessened his willingness to want to participate in conversation. Soon he was soaked through, his uniform giving up the ghost after almost two days of abuse. Noctis' shaking would have loosened his grasp of the reins were it not for the fact his fingers had frozen in place.

It was also fortunate that Gladiolus was an expert trekker. During the downpour, it became impossible to see the lingering smoke trails from the campfire, but the guardsman's sense of direction was impeccable no matter the conditions. Eventually the telltale glow of the Oracle's wards shined through a thicket of trees.

The rain gave way to drizzle as they ascended the outcropping where the group made their campsite, then tapered off completely. Everything was still soaked. They'd left the chairs out, never intending to be gone this long. The weather report hadn't predicted a storm when they headed toward the supposed royal crypt.

While Noctis dismounted, a wave of dizziness struck him and he leaned into his chocobo for support. He'd assumed the exertion from the trip through the dungeon was temporary, but it'd been wishful thinking. Noctis startled as a gloved hand took the reins from his slackening grip.

The prince pushed away from Bon Bon to see Ignis standing there. His own blue chocobo hovered behind him, its reins in Ignis' other hand. Noctis stared his advisor in the eye, keeping his expression as neutral as possible.

"Go get changed, if you'd like. I can take care of Bon Bon in your stead," Ignis offered.

Gladiolus had no qualms stripping right there, and while he had the right idea, Noctis was less of an exhibitionist. He accepted Ignis' proposal, but opted to duck inside the tent to retrieve a new set of clothes. Noctis found the least offensive smelling towel shoved into a corner and used that to rub off the sweat and grime. He still felt grungy afterwards, however, it was too chilly to risk washing off in a nearby lake. He'd have to settle for the haphazard wipe down until they were ready to resume their journey and find a motel or caravan with a shower.

Noctis searched his duffel bag and wore whatever he found first. There was no reason for being fashionable. A pair of jeans, long-sleeve shirt, and pillow vest were thrown over a fresh set of undergarments. He'd worn the different attire earlier in the week, but they were an improvement compared to the alternative.

"You almost done?" Prompto asked. His shadow shown through the material of the tent.

Noctis rumbled his assent and crawled out to give his friend a turn. In the time he'd been inside, Ignis had dressed down. He'd stripped his jacket to reveal his arms in a gray undershirt. He was hard at work stewing something in a cast iron pot over the portable grill. Noctis left him to it.

By the campfire, Gladiolus had settled in while just wearing his boxers. He was talking into his cell phone. Now that they were outside with a reliable signal and at the safety of camp, it sounded like he was updating his sibling on their return status. Noctis joined him by the warm fire, sidestepping Drumstick and Silky. They had cuddled together behind Gladiolus' folding chair, the red chocobo preening the crest feathers on top of his mate's head.

Someone had draped a towel over his seat, similarly to Gladiolus', so he flopped into his own chair. He slumped to access the device in the deep recesses of his pants pocket. He'd transferred all his personal effects after he'd switched clothes. There were no messages, so while Noctis waited for dinner he played some games on his phone.

Noctis didn't realize how drowsy he was until a couple insistent prods from Bon Bon's beak roused him. He turned and she was just there, when a moment ago he could have sworn she was wandering the region below. She tended to scour their resting places, like a protective mother guarding her nest, but she was more demanding of his attention today.

He gave his chocobo some extra loving strokes to her neck in hopes of appeasing her. She lowered her giant head, it taking up most of his torso, and gave Noctis a mouthful of feathers with her forced closeness.

"What is with you?" he asked, more bemused than anything else. His throat felt prickly, but he laughed at Bon Bon's behavior.

"Chocobos have an innate ability to sense certain changes in their masters. They're akin to some pets, in that respect," Ignis said. He'd come up behind him, carrying plastic mugs with thick handles. One he passed to Gladiolus. The other he held with both hands, cupping the container until Noctis could accept the meal.

Noctis clenched his jaw tight, not wanting to give his advisor an opening to comment further on his condition. Ignis was just worrying worse than usual. There was nothing going on.

A handful of gysahl greens materialized in Noctis' fingers, summoned from the armiger. He tossed them off the side of the campsite to distract Bon Bon. She chirped loudly, her tail quivering, and chased after the treat.

Ignis took the opportunity to hand him his food – some kind of warm, broth-y soup. Mixed in were a few chunks of carrots and celery. He set the mug in his lap and ate without a word, concentrating on picking around the vegetables. The vitamins were in the liquid, anyway, so no need to eat the mushy, nasty parts. It soothed his throat going down.

Bon Bon returned. Her feathers were puffed up, giving Noctis the impression she may be a tad peeved at his trickery. She hunkered down and leaned heavily against his chair; her much larger body threatened to topple him over. She kweh-ed incessantly. In apology, Noctis fed her his extra carrots and stroked her with an absent free hand.

"D'aw! Isn't that adorable?" Prompto said with sugary sweetness. After exiting the tent, he'd decided to shoot some pictures of Silky. He was documenting her progress when he noticed the prince with Bon Bon. Noctis flipped him off before Prompto could take a photo, ruining the shot he tried to take. "Hey! That's not very cute."

"I'm going to bed," Noctis announced. He was already full, despite the small amount he'd managed to eat. The remainder of his meal went to his chocobo.

He returned to the tent, ignoring everyone's stares. He shut the flap in their faces. With no one there as a witness, Noctis let the exhaustion take over. He collapsed on his front, toeing off his shoes, and wasn't awake long enough to do much else. The next morning came and went. Noctis knew this because he noticed when Prompto clambered awake, and his friend was always the last to get up after Gladiolus and Ignis. He turned over and lazed in his sleeping bag. Eventually, a coughing fit demanded his attention more. After hacking into a fist for five minutes, there was no way Noctis was comfortable enough to return to sleep.

He reluctantly went outside and hissed as the sun blinded him. Noctis hadn't expected the sun to be so high in the sky; it was much later in the day then even he was usually permitted to sleep in. He raised a hand to shield his eyes, then decided better of it. There was a beat up old hat stuffed in his luggage that Navyth had gifted him after his first successful catch at Neeglyss Pond, and Noctis hunted for it now. Setting the headgear in place, he attempted to leave the tent again.

It was stifling and humid outside, when yesterday it was freezing. The effort to remove his extra layers of clothes was more than Noctis was willing to expel. He left them as-is.

Gladiolus was the sole person in sight, along with three of the four chocobos. Drumstick and Silky were still nestled together behind his chair. As soon as Noctis made a reappearance, Bon Bon waddled back from the edge of the woods.

He mumbled a "good morning" and crumpled into a chair. The walk from the tent to the campfire couldn't have been more than a couple steps, but Noctis felt like he'd run a marathon. His body ached everywhere.

"Good afternoon," Gladiolus stated. He was honing a sword and didn't look up from the task. At least he’d opted to wear some pants today.

Noctis scowled and closed his eyes. "Where's Prompto and Iggy?"

"Ignis wanted to scavenge for some herbs, since you're sick and all. Prompto went with to expedite the gathering process," he informed him. The offhand way he said it grated on Noctis' last nerve, but that explained why Gladiolus was here. Even if it was for a stupid reason.

"I'm not sick," Noctis grouched. His throat betrayed him then, his voice cracking on the last word. It stung to talk. A cooler was by his feet and he reached inside for a bottle of water. Noctis was just parched from oversleeping or he hadn't hydrated himself enough during the previous trip. Whatever. He was fine.

Just then, the rest of their group happened to return. They'd doubled up on Ignis' chocobo, his advisor behind the reins. He slowed their ride to a stop. Noctis rounded on him before Ignis even stepped foot on the ground. "Did you tell them I was sick?"

Ignis came up short, maybe at the sharp tone or at the accusation. Prompto leaned around him and answered, instead. "Huh, you're sick? I mean, I kind of figured, since you were boiling hot all night. And you're sort of pale…"

"No. I'm not," he snapped.

Gladiolus said, "Get off'em. I determined that you're unwell on my own."

"I said I'm not sick!"

That's when Noctis passed out. The sounds of Bon Bon squawking in distress followed him into darkness. There was a faint beeping sound. It was enough that Noctis couldn't ignore the disturbance. His eyelids clenched tighter together against the intrusion. He rolled over and hid under the covers more to try and block out the electronic noises.

The sounds cutoff, to be replaced with the rustling of bed sheets. "Noct? Psst, Noct!"

He buried deeper into the blankets, but the person was adamant.

"Hey, you awake?"

"No," Noctis mumbled.

"Dude!" It had to be Prompto making that racket. Nobody else was this excitable. Noctis frowned and refused to budge. He hoped his friend would take the hint and leave him alone, but a hand on his shoulder gave his body a couple shakes. He asked, "How're you feeling?"

"Tired," he stressed, wanting to spur him into silence.

"You passed out! How can you still be tired?"

That didn't seem right. Noctis remembered… Well. Musing on it, he didn't recollect much of anything. Had he already woken up? He vaguely recalled that he might have met up with Gladiolus, but afterwards was such a hazy blur.

"I don't…" Noctis tried to sit up, but his arms shook too much as he pushed himself upright. Prompto hurried to steady him, both palms flat on his back. If it were anyone else Noctis would have brushed off the contact, the area being sensitive, but the sensation of comfort broke through his revere.

In a somber tone, Prompto said, "Hey. Hey, hey, hey. Take it easy."

"What happened?" He dropped to an elbow and watched Prompto over his shoulder, the blanket covering the lower portion of his face.

"I'm not really sure? This morning Ignis randomly wanted to go plant picking, and when we got back you weren't talking sense. Then you collapsed."

Some of what Prompto recited came back to him in stages. Noctis ducked his head in shame as he recalled the way he lashed out at Gladiolus and the allegations he flung at Ignis. To Prompto, who'd sparingly been exposed to Noctis at his lowest, the severe lapse in his mood would appear confusing.

"You had us all kinds of worried," Prompto said, almost hushed. It garnered Noctis' attention, regardless. He adjusted his shoulders in nervous habit, and his friend removed his hands like he was burned. Noctis couldn't have felt guiltier.

"This just happens sometimes. It's no big deal."

"Um, this never happened when we were in school! I'd remember if you passed out in the middle of math class. The only time you were gone was when your dad summoned you to the Citadel for those top secret—" Prompto's expression went blank. The gunner was so expressive, animated even when idle, so he knew Prompto was serious when he went still in contemplation.

"You weren't in council meetings all those times you had to skip school, were you?" he asked directly.

The words wouldn't form; all he could do was nod in confirmation. His friend moved beside him, and in a panic Noctis scrambled to halt Prompto from leaving. His worrying was unfounded. Prompto was reaching out to him again. Noctis met him halfway, his fingertips catching on the other man's bracelets. He was relieved Prompto wasn't angry enough to flounce off, but Noctis wanted to make sure he didn't.

"Ever since—" the Marilith attack, but he couldn't put a name to his childhood misery, even after the creature's demise at his hands. The monster haunted his nightmares for years and would continue to haunt him for the near future. "—my accident as a kid, the doctors said my immune system was weakened."

Saying 'weakened' made his stomach churn worse. Admitting that to anyone, most of all Prompto, hurt worse than the illness wracking his body. He owed it to his friend, though. Noctis had kept this hidden from him long enough.

"Back then, I'd get sick all the time. It was like I had no natural defenses left in me. We tried everything: gut therapy, boosters, remedies. Shit like that."

"When you were in Tenebrea?" Prompto asked. He whispered, as if afraid Noctis would stop if he interrupted.

"Luna's mom… Her magic was all that helped," Noctis confirmed. At least, until the queen couldn't anymore. Her treatments ended with the invasion of Niflheim. That was another painful reminder, one which he wasn't equipped to delve into, even with Prompto.

"As I got older I didn't get sick as often, but when I did… It was better if the public didn't know." Better if his best and only friend outside the palace didn't know how pathetic he was, but what Noctis actually confessed was, "That's what my dad and his staff concluded, anyway. It'd be risky if anyone found out how easy a target I was during those times."

"I'm sorry," he said, surprising the prince. Prompto shifted on his knees, but kept his hand firmly in place, under Noctis'. "That totally sucks. It must have been miserable and lonely for you. I know you said it was dangerous to tell me, but I am sorry that I didn’t do more for you."

"No, I should have told you," Noctis said in his own apologetic way.

"Nah, no biggie. I'll just have to make up for all the lost opportunities!" Prompto pulled away, but only enough to lie against the prince's side. He stayed on top of the layers of blankets and sleeping bags, but shared Noctis' pillow. Noctis should have protested – he was feverish and resembled a swamp. Nevermind Prompto could catch his illness, too, by such close proximity.

Instead, Noctis transferred onto his opposite side and watched as Prompto resumed playing games on his phone. It'd been what was generating the strange noises earlier. He watched for awhile, offering idle commentary in the forms of suggestions or jibes. He felt fatigued from his prior confession, however, and without his noticing he dozed off.

#noctis lucis caelum #ignis stupeo scientia #gladiolus amicitia #prompto argentum #final fantasy xv #final fantasy 15 #ff15 #ffxv #final fantasy #video games #prescription #my writing #snarechan's writing #UPDATE

[weapon13whitefang]

Negan’s New Carl

It’s well known in the TWD Comics that Carl and Negan have a very intense respect-but-hate relationship going on.

I’ve gone back and reread a bunch of old interviews because 1) I’m bored and 2) I was trying to recall something Scott once said and wanted to make sure I wasn’t going crazy and 3) I’m in the mood to dig into TWD and this crazy nonsense show and drive myself crazy!

In an interview with Gimple - Found here - He talked about the Carl and Negan relationship and how he might split some of the story among characters (this interview was before S7 and we know this has been done with Daryl, Eugene, Carl, Rosita [she shot Lucille instead of Carl, so that part was split] and even a bit with Sasha [she took comic Holly’s place afterall]

So he’s done that... But there’s something he said in that interview that still kind of bugs me...

"Whether it's with Carl or not, I cannot say," Gimple says. "I absolutely want to explore Negan having that strange respect for someone which I think was the hallmark of that relationship and we'll tell versions of that story."

Who is Negan’s new Carl?

Gimple touched on wanting to play on the Negan respect for another trait. It’s one of the things that makes Negan interesting; his beliefs and interests.

In the comic, Negan had interest and respect for Carl because of being as tough and hardened as he is at such a young age, even going far enough to a) tell Carl he’d want a son just like Carl and b) being upset that Carl still wants to kill him two years after the war and telling that he thought he and Carl were friends. 

Carl and Negan are one of the many interesting relationships of the comic next Rick and Dwight (for me in terms of chemistry between characters, which is a big thing for me in the comic). And while Rick and Dwight’s relationship with Negan is there in the TV show, it’s nothing like the comic feel and his relationship with Carl are brief and hardly comic level.

So... Who is Negan’s new Carl is what I’m trying to grasp.

It’s not Dwight. While Dwight has that rough relationship with Negan, it’s not the same as the comic. He fears Negan but also hates his guts because of the Sherry thing and mostly works for Negan to keep his ass alive and keep Sherry safe (Sherry becoming a wife to Negan as vice versa for Dwight and because of her own trouble of believing she can survive without the extra benefit of being one of Negan’s wives).

But Negan isn’t really fascinated or interested in Dwight. Not in a way that makes for an interesting chemistry. It’s a gleamed over thing between them that we all are aware of but it isn’t played on.

It’s not Daryl like I thought it was gonna be. Negan is interested in Daryl, but more like he wants to see how far he can push and go at Daryl. The “you don’t scare easy... I like that” line is an example that Negan is interested in Daryl’s lack of fear towards his own death and incarceration and how he won't let himself “be Negan”. And he does say “I gotta get me my Daryl back”, but that’s more of the interest of keeping a prisoner/strong hand of Rick’s and raising himself above him. Daryl was taken because of his show of strength and his crazy attack at Negan. But otherwise, Negan and Daryl haven’t really had a “you really fascinate me” moment.

In fact, for Dwight and Daryl, they have a more interesting relationship of fascination with each other than Negan does to either of them. Daryl has respect and hate for Dwight. He gets Dwight now. He gets why he’s doing what he does. But Dwight still helped get Glenn and Abraham killed and shot Denise and stole his shit and fucked him up. He did a lot of shit to Daryl that can not be forgiven, even if he gets it. So Daryl gets Dwight and even respects why he’s doing it, but he still hates the guy and would kill him if Dwight even tried to blink wrong at them.

It’s not Eugene. Eugene is an asset. That’s it. He can make bullets and he knows a lot of shit. He’s useful to Negan. And without Eugene, Rick can’t produce more bullets for any guns he might get ahold of. Also, I have a feeling Negan doesn’t fully trust Eugene because of what happened with Sasha AND Negan has shown disgust at people who turn on their leaders and Eugene quickly let himself turn to Negan and basically be his bitch, which Negan doesn’t really respect for, as shown with Spencer.

Carl isn’t it either. The whole “Carl breaking into the Sanctuary” thing happened, “Kid you scare the shit out of me”, meeting the girls, singing the song and showing the eyeball hole happened. We had a spaghetti moment and we had a stare down of Carl and Negan at the end of S7. But otherwise, there’s been no dig into Carl and Negan’s arc like the comic did. So it’s not Carl.

It’s not Rick, although it could be. Rick fights back and keeps taking on Negan and even goes at him full throttle and Negan swaggers about it but he isn’t about to forget the damage Rick can do. The damage he knows he will do. We see that. But he also knows he has the numbers while Rick technically doesn’t right now. There’s no respect for each other besides the whole “I know what you’re capable of” respect and that’s not fully digging into the respect and fascination aspect.

So basically... We don’t have someone specifically that Negan is fascinated and respects. Yet. And that bugs the fuck outta me because that’s something I find important about Negan. His beliefs and what he sees as something worth watching over is what made Negan interesting to me in the comic. Right now Negan is just a bigger version of the Governor and I didn’t find the Governor that fascinating, just crazy. And that’s boring. Just being a crazy bad guy isn’t... It isn’t interesting. 

Negan is this charismatic and seemingly invincible character in the comic. He does so many crazy things and does all this stuff to get Carl and Rick to like and trust him over time. He cuts off the Whisperer leaders - Alpha - head for Rick and throws up his arms like “see I killed the leader and didn’t take over a new group to attack you so I’m cool and you can all like me now!” and that want to have these characters like him while doing this crazy shit and to like him AFTER he did such terrible things to them, is both crazy and interesting about Negan.

I’m basically saying that Negan is a boring villain right now. He’s a plot device to make TWD be able to have this war happen so that more characters can be killed off and create more emotional deaths of possible favs, bring in a bunch of characters from the past (like Morales) and have all these extra explosions and crazy battle scenes... That’s boring. 

That’s been done before. Negan isn’t even needed really. He basically stands in the background yelling about his dick and flailing on the ground like a scared idiot as he gets shot at by Rick and everyone... That’s not fascinating that really is booorrriinngg.

Negan needs a drive. Negan needs someone that he can focus on that makes the war something besides a pissing contest of death. His thing in the comic was that he wanted everything Rick had. He wanted to rule over Rick and make him be his, same with Carl and everyone. After his imprisonment and escaping, he wants Carl and Rick and the Safe Zone to trust and like him. His focus is Carl and Rick and making himself look like a good guy basically. Which is fascinating because we still don’t know if we can trust him after all he’s done and what he’s capable of doing and the fact he’s not always stable like in his decisions of how to handle situations... 

He doesn’t have that right now. He has a hold over The Saviors still, but for how long? And he’s still got a one up on Rick in numbers and reaches but for how long? This arc is going to be predictable and that’s lame.

And yes, most of this is me complaining. I am bored with Negan. I liked him for awhile, but by the end of S7 he just wasn’t giving me anything to be interested in. He wasn’t showing any chemistry for anyone and to me that’s important. That’s why The Governor bored me as time went on. In the beginning, he was charming and had an interesting power relationship with Merle and Milton. And with Andrea his play of being this “good guy out for his people” but is really out for himself and losing his humanity was interesting. But then he killed Merle and killed Andrea and Milton. And with Michonne he died right after having a chance to build up that rage with her.

The Terminus Gang was the same way. All this build up to get to Terminus and then they’re all killed off like pigs to a slaughterhouse a few episodes later. Grady was interesting for a second because of Dawn’s manipulative relationship with Beth and everyone but then she fucks shit up and Daryl blows her fucking brains out and then she’s dead. The Wolves were a build up that went nowhere. They literally got killed in like two episodes and then we moved on. And the Scavengers are still around but Jadis hasn’t done anything but betray Rick (not a surprise, we all saw that shit coming) and made a rocky team up with the Saviors. A team-up that we don’t even know is still going on or not. I mean I’m sure we’ll see more of them later (hopefully) but like Jadis is this “I am a Goddess Queen” bitch whose weird and creepy but otherwise she hasn’t shown anything to make her interesting or that she’s worth any build up. Yet.

I’m bored of one lane villains. Villains are only as interesting as how they go against the opposing team (I can’t call Rick’s group the good guys because they’re not, they’re just the bigger killer group’s obstacle) and how they use that relationship to battle the other. Negan doesn’t have that right now and neither does Jadis.

Negan doesn’t have a Carl. Or a Comic-Rick or Comic-Dwight. He’s just bland right now... I’m so tired of hearing about his dick. I mean I laugh a little don’t get me wrong but dude, Negan, you’re boring me

I need Gimple to give us something. Is he still going to have Negan be fascinated with and respect someone? Is he gonna have his Comic-Self fascination or is he just going to be the fucker that took Glenn and Abraham and Olivia and Sasha from us? Cause the Governor did that with Hershel and Dawn did that with Beth. We’ve had that shit already. Are we gonna get more?

This is basically an “I’m already bored of Negan” rant. His only thing going for him is that he’s played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan and he occasionally can piss me off and make me laugh. That’s it. 

Gimple... Give me something this season. Make Negan more interesting. I need to see if this is gonna be a thing.

Also, it’s okay if you don’t agree with me. That’s fine. This is my ranting opinion and I hope I’ll change my mind as S8 goes on.

#TWD Rant #the walking dead #twd negan #negan #carl grimes #daryl dixon #twd dwight #dwight #eugene porter #rick grimes #the walking dead spoilers #the walking dead season 8 #liz rants

[thotyssey]

On Point With: BibleGirl666

Arguably the country’s most famous queen who has never been on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” this entrepreneur and genuine pop scholar has captivated legions of fans the world over with her social media presence, including an especially-devoted Instagram following. She came of age in an era where lowbrow culture was championed by the expansive bombast of MySpace. BibleGIrl666 -- who tellingly drag named herself after her own provocative social media handle from that time (a somewhat misleading one, since this native Floridian and current Brooklynite is actually a Nice Jewish Girl) -- built an entire celebrity persona around the equal-parts celebration and satire of the best of the worst of what pop culture had to offer. Now a more seasoned stage performer at the ripe old age of 24 and the founder of the incredibly successful DragqueenMerch online company, Bible is very much a queen that you need to know. Drag Con, you ain’t ready for this!

Thotyssey: BibleGirl, thank you for talking to us! You were just in London, right?

BibleGirl666: Hello! Thank you for the opportunity to rock out here with you! Yes, I was just in London two weeks ago for DragWorld UK.

Is it surreal to meet fans across the ocean, who only know you from social media?

It transcends surrealism, in all honesty. I go into any kind of convention / travel situation with no expectations because it's like, 'Well, who the fuck am I,' if that makes sense; then once at the event, to be faced with a line of people who just "get" what you do without question is really dope.

It’s always interesting for me to hear from a performer about how much of her drag persona is fully her, and how much is a created character. In your case, BibleGirl is very much a fully-realized character based on those white trashy MySpace girls that came up in the Britney Era: colorful, selfish, messy, fun.  Do you think those traits fascinated you on a personal level, or were you just so exposed to that growing up in in that time that that’s all you knew?

I feel like, more so than ever, the character is at her most fleshed-out point to date. The genesis personality, which was that of the aforementioned trashy girls, took hold because that's what I was super intrigued by at 15 on the internet. 2007 was the era of trainwrecks and unapologetic tabloids! Seeing the public's fascination with the tragic headlines fueled by A-listers really resonated with me.

I sometimes miss MySpace! That network sort of encouraged one’s individualism, whereas social media today tends to streamline you to be like everyone else. You can’t even use your drag name on Facebook! But scrolling through peoples’ MySpaces got ridiculous in the end, with all that music and animation people posted on them. Anyway, do you miss MySpace at all?

LOADED QUESTION! I miss the aspects you described, but I don't miss it entirely for the clunky interface and cesspool breeding ground for the cyberbullying which really took root there, in my opinion.

The best way to follow you on social media today is Instagram. Do you consider yourself to be very picky and choosy about what images you post there, or is it always spontaneous?

I used to be super haphazard with my posts, but realized there is an algorithm and a process of finessing an "aesthetic" if you will. I have found that following my own set rules for my account has allowed me to explore character development on more of a multimedia platform rather than in a club.

I do my best to maintain levels of spontaneity, to show who I am on a more personal level, through the Instagram stories feature nowadays.

Recently, Instagram temporarily took down your account under very mysterious circumstances, during a period when it seemed like social media was maybe cracking down on gay content. 

The experience was really bizarre, and one of the weirder ones I've had this year. I was in Canada for a couple of shows, and was waiting for a flight to Winnipeg for night #2 at 6 AM, and I watched my account get suspended in what was essentially real time. I woke up before heading to the airport, and checked Instagram with no problem. I got through security, found my gate, and grabbed a seat... only to check Instagram and watch an auto-log out happen. I checked my email thinking I was hacked, but instead had a message saying I violated terms and conditions and was indefinitely suspended. I joke that it's the trip that never happened because I virtually couldn't document it. It took an interview with Unicorn Booty after a week of suspension, and two days after the article’s release, for my account to return with zero explanation.

You have kind of a rabid fanbase, based largely on your amazing pics and your relatable personality that comes through. Can you kind of empathize with a young celebrity queen like Drag Race’s Valentina, who might’ve been overwhelmed by her fans aggressively trolling other queens from her season and then got heat for not regulating it? Like, can a single person even regulate a monstrous online movement like that?

I can empathize with Valentina on more of a level of we are both people that know what we want, and stay in our respective lanes when reaching our goals. I think it's fucked up that people use a reality TV villain narrative to scapegoat micro-aggressions, but maybe that's just me. I do think a more immediate condemning of the trolling from her fanbase would have done everybody a little bit more benefit, but I did find it in bad taste when people were going to her meet-and-greets just so they could film whether or not she hugged fans.

You do get into some trouble now and then for “hurting someone’s feelings” online, be it another queen or whomever. But your drag persona kinda dictates that you have to be a Heather once in awhile for authenticity, right? Are there lines that you don’t cross when it’s time to take a bitch down?

After a lot of trial and error, I've learned to not go for the lowest hanging fruits, as they tend to be the most personal and internally damaging.

I've fine-tuned the infamy channels, and have kept a lot of my humor more pop culture-centric since it's what I know best. Anything pop-adjacent are gifts that keep on giving.

My motto to troll by hails from Brazil: Se me atacar eu vou atacar [you attack me, I attack you]. It proves handy!.

Have you had a “favorite” feud with another queen, if that’s possible?

It's impossible. They're all great when you're the one getting booked.

As far as today in Pop Divadom, fans are having wild and polarizing reactions to Taylor Swift’s new music and videos, and Katy Perry’s as well (but we all seem to be on Team Kesha). Where do you stand with these ladies… who are you loving and who are you hating?

First and foremost, always Team Kesha.

Ultimately, I ride and die with Katy if it’s between her and Taylor. Although problematic, I have never seen Katy as somebody with malicious intentions. Her music has always been really fun, well-executed pop, and that's what originally made me love her. I find her recent public reception rather upsetting, considering how on top of the world she was, re: Prism World Tour. She was always just somebody who did her thing and was inclusive of everybody; I feel that it's been a consistent trait of hers since I first discovered her, like, 10 years ago.

I also feel like noting that she was publicly campaigning for Clinton in 2016, and what 2017 yielded was an avalanche/barrage of god awful press majorly hailing from the likes of Page Six & TMZ, -- both of which are backed by CEOs who have vocalized support for Trump. This also happened to coincide with her album promo release cycle, and that created some weirdly fulfilled prophecy of failure. It just all seems strange to me.

I DIGRESS...I really fucking love Katy's most recent album, Witness, amongst all the flack she's gotten.

Circling back to Taylor: she's somebody who at this stage of the game has been nothing but self-gratuitous / indulgent. As a woman, more power to her for living her best goddamn life in what has been a male-dominated industry in terms of those who can make or break you. That said, now is not the time to be rehashing old fights with celebs. Now is not the time to show the world that squeaky jar of mayonnaise TayTay has a bad girl streak "for a reason” now. There's so much going on in the world, and I think her message misses the mark this year. 

That goes without saying that I'm not marginalizing sociopolitical situations via the behaviors of pop stars.

In the past you’ve emphasized that you’re not a “strong” performer -- that you’re like a regular girl feeling her fantasy lip synching into a hairbrush. But I’ve seen clips of you giving very high-energy, fun, splits-and-drops-and-all stage performances recently. Have you become a better stage performer over time, in your opinion, or have you maybe discovered more joy in performing?

In the past I feel like I had been allowing people's opinions to manifest my performance style, and it created a sense of complacency where I thought being bad was all I was capable of. Through growing into myself, and taking some choreo lessons from my friend, Nick Laughlin, I was able to really channel my performance style into being more about exactly what a song makes me feel in that moment, rather than a fully rehearsed number where you can tell I'm counting steps on my face.

After enough time, I've learned drag ain't so serious. If I'm having fun, people vibe off of that. That's the atmosphere I try to bring on stage nowadays, something just bursting at the seams with bright colors, crazy faces, and good-ass time.

What’s your favorite number to do these days?

Kesha's "Let 'Em Talk" of Rainbow is definitely a fave hard-hitter of mine!

One New York venue where you performed in a lot over the years, Easternbloc, has just closed and will be revamped as the much-different Club Cumming very soon. You and Ruby Roo hosted a fondly-remembered party there called Hellfire Club, and most recently there was Bible Study (hosted by Cameron Cole, Cedric Antonio and yourself). Are you quite sad to see Easternbloc go, or do you think Club Cumming will offer something special? 

Easternbloc was the first real gay bar I had been in ever, right after moving to NYC 6 (AHH!) years ago. It was also the first bar to take a chance on me with a reoccurring party. It will forever hold a special place in my heart, where I made so many friends and lost so many memories! I welcome the evolution of the bar; I like being Glass Half Full.

Do you know yet if you’re gonna be involved in Club Cumming after it opens?

I've heard nothing in terms of official return on my end, and that is totally a-okay. That doesn't mean I won't happily be a patron and support a local queer space.

You’ve been hosting / performing at several monthly installments of the “Wallbreaker” benefit shows at Macri Park in Brooklyn, which features a new charity cause and lineup of guest performers each month. 

The experience of working Wallbreaker has been nothing short of amazing. It's less about me, and more for what the party is and stands for. I'm happy to see an entire community come together to help support those facing oppression.

What’s in store for the next one?

The next Wallbreaker is on September 14th, and its the ninth installment! Super wild that we're this deep into 2017, period. This month we are raising money for the benefit of Brooklyn Defense Committee, which is an emergency response network for those facing harassment from ICE, whether it pertains to deportation or unannounced home raids.

Aside from Instagram, you’re best known for the wildly successful and essential company you started, DragQueen Merch. This is basically an Amazon for the t-shirts and other promotional items that drag queens sell to fans, where items are printed and directly shipped to order -- eliminating the need for queens to worry about stock and supplies. How long have you been doing this now, and how much of your time does it consume these days? Do you have a large staff?

The business has been running for nearly three years, which is mind-blowing! A lot of my time during the day (aside from my freelance graphic design job) is invested into the site, whether it's strategizing for what's next or setting up pages for queens. Our staff consists of no more than ten people, as far as infrastructure is concerned!

I recently had a queen tell me that she didn’t want to get on your bad side because she wanted to sell her stuff on your site. Are personal relationships / interactions ever a consideration for putting a queen’s stuff on your site, or is it simply that if they agree to whatever the business arrangement is and have the collateral, then it’s all good? Point blank: it's one thing to have an opinion on me. It's another when you have no problem utilizing a non-expense startup system which was founded on wanting to help our industry on a grand scheme outside of TV, and then marginalize me as just some chick who can't actually do drag makeup or dance. I won't allow a negative opinion to dictate who is or isn't on the site, but I always see everything and note who says what. I like to know who's afraid of the “@” symbol.

Okay, let’s talk about this weekend. First of all, Drag Con! What will you be doing at the convention?

Dragcon NYC is gonna be the fuckin' tits. I will be at Booth 557 w/ Rubber Child, Lisa Limbaugh, Trixie Mattel, Amanda Lepore and the House of Avalon! The entire DQM team is going to be on deck as well. Together, we are meeting-and-greeting, along with selling our respective merch ranging from apparel to enamel pins!

Who are you excited to see there?

Honestly? Rubber and Lisa. We only get to see each other during con seasons, or on the off-chance I get to escape to Florida for a weekend. There isn't ever enough time with them.

And you have a stellar lineup in store for a Drag Con afterparty and show you’re hosting at Stonewall on Saturday night: Super Smash Kweenz!  We’ll see you there with Lisa and Rubber, plus Brooklyn’s own Daphne Sumtimez, Hystée Lauder, and Cameron Cole, in addition to famous out-of-town performers like Lucy Stoole and Soju. 

YES. What gags me the most is that we are throwing the coolest party comprised of local talents of NYC and afar (without an emphasis on drag and TV crossover as the main attraction) at a muthafuckin' gay national monument! All of the performers (including Cameron as DJ) are some of the best and most unique that I have had the pleasure of experiencing shows of and working with!

PS - we don't have a cover or tickets because Drag Con is already corporate enough. If you want a damn good drag show in a rad location, Super Smash Kweenz at Stonewall Inn on Saturday the 9th is where you want to be!

What else is going on with / coming up for you?

At this point in time, I am bound and gagged by contracts until announcements are made! Just note: lots of travel for the next few months, and I couldn't be happier or more excited!

You’re always on many lists as a favorite candidate for a season of Drag Race. Is this something you’re actively pursuing?

It is not something I am currently pursuing. It'll always be a childhood dream, and something I enjoy. I'm a believer in timing, and if my life is circular, I'm not going to try and make it fit within the square hole of reality TV.

Oh, you seem like a good person to ask about this, as an internet-famous and pop-savvy entertainer: what do you think about Lactacia, the 8-year old drag queen? Is she fabulous and wonderful? Is she annoying and demeaning to the art of drag, or a true prodigy? Is she being exploited, or are her parents good role models for what the parents of a drag child should be? Should an extremely underage kid be turning numbers and sass in bars on the stage with Bianca del Rio?   

Ohhhhhhhh, I say let the kid live! I love her and what she represents. It doesn't feel exploitative. If anything, it is celebratory, and should be shown as a class act of how to accept your child for who they are -- no matter what they are or how they represent. I think Lactacia is punk as fuck -- and like every good drag queen, is getting into venues underage. She'll be seasoned well before any of us industry-working heifers are.

Okay, last question: What’s the single best piece of advice you can give to anyone, anywhere, who wants to break into drag in 2017?

Do it for you.

Thank you, Bible!

BibleGirl666 appears monthly at Macri Park for the “Wallbreakers” benefit concert on second Thursdays (10pm). Check the Thotyssey calendar for upcoming area appearances, and follow BIble on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr and DragQueen Merch.com.

On Point Archives

#onpointwith #BibleGirl666 #dragcon

[thesffcorner]

Honor Among Thieves

Honor Among Thieves is the first novel in a YA sci-fi duology written by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre. It follows Zara, a teenager who lives in the slums of futuristic New Detroit, who in spite of her criminal record, and problems with drugs, gets selected to become an Honor: a human who will go on a year long journey inside the body of a Leviathan; whale-like sentient aliens who have helped Earth come back rebuild after being on the brink of collapse. Becoming an Honor should be the greatest achievement, but for Zara it seems too good to be true; and it just might be. The way I remember being pitched this book, was a heist set in space. That is absolutely, not the case. It’s actually kind of hard to describe what it is and a big reason for that, it’s that it feels like it’s actually 2 books in one. Part I of this book is spent on Earth, and it fools you into thinking that the plot will be very different from what it actually is. When we meet Zara she is living in New Detroit as a thief, which naturally lead me to believe that this book would involve a heist. We also quickly establish that she is a drug user, that her family is dysfunctional and that her best friend/boyfriend is likewise a thief and a drug addict. Zara steals something she shouldn’t and to escape the people after her, she enrolls herself in a rehabilitation center, where she’s approached for the Honor’s mission. Now, I want you to understand, just how inconsequential and unrelated this whole first third is, to the rest of the book. First, we have a lot of set up: Zara’s backstory, the world’s history, we are introduced to a gang boss who’s apparently all-powerful and all-reaching. All of it is stuff that could be interesting, but it never gets properly explored. Firstly, though I liked the slums of the Zone in New Detroit, they were very similar to most iterations of Detroit I’ve seen/read before; a bit of Robocop, a bit of the Zone in The Big Sheep, just a very typical cyberpunk setting. Zara herself is built up to be the typical cyberpunk protagonist; she has a tragic backstory, has illegal yet useful skills like stealing and fighting, and she’s even a casual drug user. I expected that we would see her overcome her addiction, or that it would stay a permanent part of her character like Case or Takeshi Kovacs; instead once she enters the Honor program, her addiction immediately disappears, and it’s never brought up again afterwards. We likewise spend a lot of time focusing on the thing she steals and on the mafia boss who goes after her; it’s pretty much Zara’s entire motivation for going into rehab. However, this subplot is so generic, and so completely inconsequential to the rest of the novel, that I genuinely forgot it existed, until just now when I sat down to write this review. If Zara’s addiction, and how it ties with this recipe for a synthetic drug is completely irrelevant, and New Detroit is never a location we visit again, than why did we spend so much time on this subplot? There had to be a better way to get Zara off the streets; she could have been arrested, or betrayed by her crew… I just don’t get it. There is another subplot that also goes nowhere, and it’s you guessed it, tied to the plot-cul de sac of New Detroit. Zara’s father was abusive and religiously fundamentalist; this helps inform a lot of Zara’s later decisions, and some of her personality, but we again focus so firmly on the religious aspects, and yet it never comes into play afterward. Why was it necessary that her father was religious? Why was he trying to hog the microphone at the press conference? We never get an answer, and likely never will because the book isn’t about that. So what is the book about? Well, it’s mostly about aliens, loneliness and trust. Once we get to space the entire plot and tone of this book drastically shifts. At first, I had a very distinct Hunger Games vibe; the train ride to New York, the training facility, Marko’s entire character (we’ll get to it). But then, as soon as we enter space we shift to something I can only describe as… Farscape. The Leviathans are sentient beings; they are the size of spaceships, look like whales, can survive in 0G and the void of space and they feed off of sunlight. The Honors get assigned 2/Leviathan and they complete a Trial that lasts a year, after which they can chose to go to a Journey with a Leviathan from which they never return. Supposedly, it’s done for scientific and cultural exchange, but it becomes very clear early on, that something more is going on. Zara gets assigned to Nadim, along with a Brazilian girl named Beatriz. What follows is what I can only describe as a romance between Nadim, the whale/Leviathan and Zara. it was such a dramatic change of tone, pace and even genre that the first few chapters I got whiplash. However, this was the part of the book that hooked me hard, because the relationship between Nadim and Zara is so fascinating and strange, and yet so understandable and immediately engaging. I was rooting for them from the moment she got on board and I found the way the authors managed to capture both their immediate attraction to each other, as well as the slow build of their trust and fondness perfectly executed. There is a scene where the two bond completely, and it was probably the strangest, most unsettling and yet somehow engaging scene I’ve read in awhile; I almost still can’t believe this is a YA book. Nothing is explicit, don’t get me wrong; Nadim and Zara have an entirely spiritual connection, but the way it’s written and just the sheer oddity of a love story between a girl and an alien ship was so not the thing I was expecting with that start of this novel. I almost wonder if one author wrote the beginning of the book, and another the rest; they are so distinctly and jarringly different that I’m genuinely wondering if I switched to a different book mid-reading. If it weren’t for the first chapter where we are introduced to Nadim, I could have sworn these were meant to be two separate stories. The last third of the book is a lot more action packed, and we find out more about the world, the reason for the Journey and the Leviathan’s arrival and what is actually happening. There were a few scenes that were difficult to read, mostly pertaining to physical abuse, which is strange to say since the abuse isn’t human. But it was still written very well and rather graphically and it was hard to read, I found the ending very interesting and I’m sad I don’t have access to the second book immediately, because I want to know what happens next. Briefly, I’ll go over the characters. I don’t have much to say about Chao-Xing and Marko; they were very minor supporting characters, though I expected Marko to play a bigger role than he did, especially since he’s so prominent at the start. The fact that he was Serbian was a weird shock to me; I don’t think I’ve ever read about a character that’s so close to my nationality before (though like most of these sci-fi books, ethnicity and race are oftentimes incidental and don’t actually inform the characters at all). There was also one part that made me cringe into oblivion, where he’s described as having a “Slavic point to his chin”. WTF does that even mean?? Beatriz was a fine character; she’s the more toned down, bookish type to serve as a foil to Zara. I liked that she had a bond with Nahim that was different from Zara’s but she still cared about the Leviathan. Her being musically inclined was also fun, but she just didn’t have a strong enough personality to grasp on. Nahim was surprisingly, in spite of being an alien, the more interesting character. I absolutely loved the way the authors wrote him as both this foreign, non-human entity, while also experiencing a lot of the same emotions like jealousy, humor, fear and even pride. He was a very trusting character, and his push and pull with Zara was really engrossing. There were many points in the book where I felt like Zara did; that if anything happened to him I wouldn’t be able to handle it. Zara was a very typical YA protagonist; she’s spirited, she’s angry, she’s dissatisfied, afraid of being stuck or being controlled, afraid of trusting people and getting hurt and pushing the ones who care about her away. There was a lot of Katniss in her; she has a lot more of a mouth than Katniss, and I liked her quips a lot of the time. She actually reminded me of Takeshi Kovacs more than once throughout the book, which was probably all the bravado hiding pain and insecurity. She was also a black character, and that’s made clear with several descriptions of her skin and her hair. I appreciated this; I feel like I don’t mention that often enough in my reviews, because I don’t feel equipped on judging what representation is good representation, but I overall found Zara to be a well rounded and motivated character. I rooted for her, I wanted her to make it, and I really appreciated that she always stayed suspicious and never backed down from learning the truth. Overall, it was a book that surprised me more than once. It’s not perfect, but I enjoyed it immensely; it would be a full 4 star if the beginning hadn’t been that disjointed from the rest. As it stands I can’t wait to read the sequel; I think this was one of the best executed relationship developments I’ve ever read and I’m really glad I picked it up. If you like aliens, you’ll probably like this too.

#honor among thieves #honor among thieves review #moni talks #book review

[nightspsyche]

       Knowing your partner well makes writing together a lot easier. tag this with the people you enjoy roleplaying with but want to get to know better.

tagged: More nabbed from @black-bird-canary​ on the open invite thingy lol tagging: Anyone, everyone? About 90% of you are those I’ve followed for awhile/years but go for it anyway!

B A S I C S :

name: Pippin (nickname bahaha)

age: 31

prefered pronouns: she / her

sexualiy: Demisexual-heterosexual

zodiac sign: Capricorn

taken or single: tSingle

three facts:

I’ve published two full novels and one novella online.

I’ve been an aunt since I was eight years old. Which is weird, especially when your niece comes over and she’s more like a younger playmate than your own niece xD.

I’ve never been on a real, actual “we’re calling it this” date lol. Ever. It’s sad. I’ve had ‘boyfriends’ if you want to call them that, but never been on a real date, date.

E X P E R I E N C E :

how long (months/years?): In Rping? God.. I’ve been Rping since 2007.

how’d you start: I got started on bloodletting.org actually, it’s a forum based RPG where you can fight other characters and do city searches to find things to help your character level up.

platforms you’ve used: Forums, Twitter, Tumblr, Skype.

worst experience: Ah... Shortly after losing my grandmother, I found out someone I thought was a friend of mine, someone who I had gotten worried about when she disappeared for a few years? I’d found out she had been trying to turn people against me because she didn’t like me, simply because my muse was friends with a muse she wanted her’s with. Needless to say dealing with that on top of grieving? I was devastated and angry. I still am angry honestly because she’s never once attempted to apologize.

best experience: I met @thatbitchisback​ and she is the best person I have ever known, and she’s basically become family.

M U S E  P R E F E R E N C E S :

female or male: I don’t care. You could play as a fucking tree that talks (yes you could play as an ent dammit) and I would still give you a chance. For me it’s about the stories, not the character gender.

original or canon: Both are fine by me.

favorite face: I kind of honestly adore Elana’s FC. I started using her for someone else but was like “Nope I can’t, I just keep seeing Elana!”. Also Evan Rachel Wood is proving to be a great FC choice.

least favorite face: Oh God... Ones that are super over used for OCs. There’s not really one specific, it’s more the ones that are chosen based on sex appeal rather than because they fit the character itself. Which sounds weird and maybe petty?

multi or single:  I see the appeal of both. Single allows you to focus on the one ship, the development and everything without making your partner feel left out of other threads. But multiship allows you to explore other facets of relationships, to see how your muse is with different people. I honestly role play with both options.

W R I T I N G  P R E F E R E N C E S :

fluff, angst or smut: Not too big on the smut aspect. Bad experiences of that only being what the other person wants the Rps to be about. But I enjoy most other forms of emotional aspects of writing.

plots or memes: Gimme both!

long or short replies: Both work so long as I have a way of replying back. I’m very adaptable to my writing partners’ reply lengths.

best time to write: At night my muses seem to work a little better.

are you like your muse: As an original character I know people probably expect that we’re at least 50% alike. It’s not true. Elana was trained from the age of eight to face her fears, to stand up and be strong. Me? I have anxiety issues and it doesn’t take much to make me uncomfortable, nervous or afraid. I’m not good at standing up to them. Clearly I’m not part of the League lmao. I’m not at all fashion savvy to say the least. The only real thing we have in common is our level of awkwardness when talking to people (especially guys). And we are both super, super nerdy as hell. Seriously you get either of us talking nerd? We ramble, a lot.

[retoddedreviews-blog]

I apologize for my absence today as i was watching the release of an amazing movie. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. AND IT WAS WORTH IT SO MUCH you will not waste money seeing this. On another note my DLC review is DELAYED however i am a gracious host and i am not going to leave you empty handed. I am going to try and get better at being there for you guys and i appreciate all the support even if its just a little it goes a long way you guys are awesome.

SO i have my friend Mike wrote a little piece on Dark Souls, he is a bonified video game tester for Sony. And is going to share with you HIS experience. Down the road i will collaborate with him and do a Q and A. With what its like to be a game tester. So without a further ado HERE is his experience. Please enjoy.

Hello and welcome to my companion piece to my friend Retodded Reviews Dark Souls 3 review. I won’t be going into as great of detail as my buddy but I will give you my insights and thoughts on the game. As you probably read I do test videogames as my part time job however, we’ll cover that in another post eventually. Onto Dark Souls 3 but first a journey into how I got started with the series. The Souls series has a special place in my heart for being my favorite game series of the last generation and current generation. Maybe it’s because I grew up with the NES and longed for days of those difficult yet satisfying games. My first experience of the Souls series had to do with Demon’s Souls and believe it or not it pissed me off so much I literally shelved the game and never touched it again for awhile. Eventually Dark Souls 1 released. I bought it for the Xbox360 and played it quite a bit but not to completion. Life at the time had taken me in a different direction and I couldn’t devote much time to game. I believe a year went by and my Xbox360 was giving me issues so I decided to repurchase the game for the PS3. However this time something came over me and I went through the game very quickly. I even managed to get the Platinum trophy for the game (my first one as well) after my completion of Dark Souls 1 and in preparation of Dark Souls 2 I went back to Demon’s Souls. I conquered the game however no platinum and the only game from the series missing it. It’s not that I can’t attain it. It’s just I don’t have the time to invest in the RNG drop rate of some of the materials. Either way from that point forward every Souls game that was released I had on release day along with a weeks worth of vacation to play through it. I also own the collectors edition for every game. Now onto the game. Dark Souls 3 is billed as the final game in the series. However, I do think there will be more spiritual successors such as Bloodborne that wi come out. You start off as the Ashen one. And your job is to reach the end of and rekindle the fire. During your adventure you will slay the lords of cinder who were undead that rekindled the flame before you and kept the cycle going. However for spoiler purposes you eventually meet a lord who refused to even go on the journey to rekindle the fire and started the whole mess to begin and how you even got chosen for the journey to begin with. Anyways gameplay. It mixes the best of Dark Souls with a tad bit of speed from Bloodborne and to be honest I wish the game had the speed of Bloodborne but that’s personal preference. What we have here is just as good. Tailoring your stats to how you want your character to be.. have him/her be a melee fighter or mage or like me a hybrid. Hybrids are generally weaker but are versatile. However a pure melee or caster can destroy enemies faster that a hybrid. So basically I’m giving myself a handicap by going the route I did since I had to work a tad bit harder for my wins. And yes, I die just as much as everyone else. I am decent at these games but I do get cocky and start to make mistakes. Exploration is also a big theme in these games. But let’s be real none of the games we ever match the Dark Souls 1 exploration since that was pure perfection. Not to say it’s bad in the game. It’s decent but most fans will agree the first game is superior in this aspect. The soundtrack is amazing like all games previously so I don’t need to go into much detail about it.   This is turning into a lot longer than I anticipated. But my final thoughts on this game is. It’s a wonderful experience where I believe every gamer should at least try out the Souls series once. It’s not for everyone sure but I believe the satisfaction of conquering these games is so rewarding. It gives you that feeling of yeah I’m a total badass. As I said before I don’t plan on going into as great of detail as my buddy. I’m merely here to give my thoughts as a companion piece. As he does the other games I’m sure our opinions will clash with each other’s. And trust me Todd and I have had series debates about these games. With that I’m signing off Mike aka Serenade

#dark souls #ashen one #videogame tester #sony #gaurdians of the galaxy